Daayra on Netflix: What Critics Said About Kareena Kapoor and Prithviraj’s Crime Thriller

Meghna Gulzar’s Daayra is now streaming on Netflix, giving audiences a fresh chance to judge a film that divided critics in theatres. Starring Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran, it began streaming on November 13 in India and in the USA and Canada, eight weeks after its theatrical release on September 18. It runs 2 hours 19 minutes and carries a TV-MA rating.

Inspired by true events, Daayra follows two police officers on opposite sides of the same case. Prithviraj plays DCP Raman Kumar, whose team is behind the deaths of four suspects in police custody; Kareena plays DCP Ajooni Kohli, leading an impartial internal probe into whether the encounter was staged. The story draws on the public debate around the 2019 Hyderabad encounter case and the wider question of extrajudicial justice, without naming a single case as its source.

The critical response was mixed-to-positive. Rotten Tomatoes lists 19 critic reviews with an average score of 74 out of 100. DNA India’s Priyanka Gupta gave it 4 out of 5, calling it a serious crime drama that trusts its actors and writing. The Indian Express’s Shubhra Gupta was cooler at 2 out of 5. NowRunning’s roundup of 10 reviews calls it gripping and thought-provoking, particularly in its first half, with several critics pointing to a slower, dialogue-heavy second half and a weak climax. The Hindustan Times praised both leads in a morally complex drama; India Today’s Shweta Keshri felt it had all the right ingredients but did not push them far enough.

One point of near-consensus is the performances. Prithviraj’s restrained, steely turn as Raman Kumar is widely called the film’s spine, while several critics felt Kareena’s Ajooni was underused, closer to an extended cameo than a co-lead, the two stars sharing only one major sequence near the end. Audiences have been kinder than the box office was: the film holds a 7.1 rating on IMDb, and its trailer has crossed 45 million views.

Here is the Filmverse take: Daayra is exactly the kind of film streaming was made for — a serious, argumentative drama that asks audiences to sit with an uncomfortable question rather than offering a clean hero. Its theatrical run was always going to struggle against that premise, but on Netflix, where the film can be discovered rather than opening-weekend-tested, the mixed reviews read differently: the four-star notices praise its nerve, the two-star notices its pacing, and both agree the performances are worth the evening. Our Netflix date announcement

Watch the official trailer below:

Daayra is streaming now on Netflix.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes, NowRunning, The Indian Express, DNA India and IMDb.

Team Filmverse

Filmverse is an independent entertainment news desk covering Bollywood and Indian cinema — news, trailers, reviews and box office, published daily from Mumbai.