Daayra Review:

“You can’t handle the truth!” screams Jack Nicholson’s Colonel Jessep when pushed too far by Tom Cruise’s Lieutenant Kaffee in A Few Good Men (1992). He is right, in a way. You deeply read about any conflict in the world in a bid to find a conclusive answer but what you really get is a truth that unsettles you, maybe questions your notions. Ideologies are ever-changing, so are political opinions and sides. Unlike the movies, life has no clear heroes and villains. There is no black or white. Before the release of Daayra, Meghna Gulzar’s new film starring Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran, the director posted a long note on Instagram, describing the film as “not binary” but “dual” and also “grey.” That the film is, in its truest sense. It doesn’t satisfy you with answers but presents you with two truths under two contexts, which you can choose from as per your ideology. The irony is that this is the film’s biggest strength and also its weakness.

Director: Meghna Gulzar

Writer: Meghna Gulzar, Sima Agarwal and Yash Keswani

Cast: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Kshitee Jog, Kanwaljit Singh and Biswapati Sarkar

Rating: 3 stars

Daayra is loosely based on the 2019 Hyderabad rape and murder case where police killed the accused in an allegedly staged encounter. On two sides of the coin of justice are DCP Raman Kumar (Prithviraj Sukumaran) and DCP Ajooni Kohli (Kareena Kapoor Khan). When the film begins, Raman is being hailed as a hero for bringing swift justice to a family whose daughter has been raped and killed. Howevere, on the doubts raised by the Human Commission, a Special Investigative Unit (SIT), headed by Ajooni, is soon formed to investigate the fake encounter charges on Raman and his team.

The case is given to us bit by bit. Director Meghna Gulzar makes an interesting choice in showing the investigation from Raman’s point of view and then the investigation of the investigation from Ajooni’s. Late at night, a girl parks her scooter on the side of the highway to complete an errand. When she gets back, her vehicle is missing. A truck driver offers help. The girl’s body is found the next day below a bridge, sexually assaulted and burnt beyond recognition. A team is set up and the accused are picked from their homes. But before they can be presented in court, they die in a police encounter during the reconstruction of the crime. Raman and his team’s case seems airtight but Ajooni, with her disarming smile, is determined to poke holes

As a police procedural, Daayra makes for a compelling watch. It gets deep into the technicalities and feels like a studied, researched narrative. A treat for fans of true crime. It also poses questions on an apathetic police system whose delay costs a girl her life. In an impactful scene, the girl’s mother (wonderfully played by Kshitee Jog) urges the cops to at least file a missing complaint for her daughter. But what she gets is a judgmental cop and bureaucratic paperwork tasked to break her spirit. At every moment Daayra presents a conundrum: What is better in a broken world— a swift, lawless act of vigilante justice that provides immediate answers or a slow-wheeling justice system that takes a balanced approach?

But oscillating between being a sociological study and a fast-paced thriller, Daayra, as it progresses, loses out on the human touch. It develops the neutrality of a thought experiment. It also starts feeling preachy at times, telling the audience what to think about and when (Kareena even breaks the fourth wall in one instance). In order to gain on the theatre audience, the nuances are spelt out. Both Prithviraj and Kareena give an assured performance but their characters seem to be buzzing with the fact that they are being played by famous stars.

Still, what Daayra seeks out to do is commendable. At a time when just like everything, even art is becoming polarized, the film doesn’t give you a clear side to root for. Prithviraj’s Raman and Kareena’s Ajooni represent two ideologies and you can choose any. It’s a fight of two contexts, in a way a battle of two rights. But humanity lies beyond discussion and debate. When Kshitee Jog (who plays the victim’s mother) discovers her daughter’s charred body she screams without sound. It’s the most human moment in the film. Daayra needed to explore more of that. Something beyond binaries. A pain that can’t be boxed into right or wrong.