CBFC Gives Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran’s Daayra an ‘A’ Certificate
Meghna Gulzar’s Daayra has completed a key pre-release formality, with the Central Board of Film Certification clearing the investigative thriller for adult audiences.
The film, led by Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran, has received an ‘A’ certificate ahead of its theatrical release on September 18, 2026. Certification details reported ahead of the release also put its runtime at 143 minutes and 16 seconds, or a little over two hours and 23 minutes.
The adult classification restricts theatrical admission to viewers aged 18 and above. While Daayra deals with crime, policing and questions of justice, no detailed public explanation from the CBFC has been cited establishing which particular scenes or elements resulted in the rating. That distinction is important, especially when discussing the certification before audiences have seen the film.
A Police Drama Built Around Competing Ideas of Justice
Rather than presenting itself simply as a procedural, Daayra appears to place the conflict between its central characters at the heart of the investigation.
Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran play police officers whose professional responsibilities bring them into the same case, but promotional material suggests they do not necessarily share the same understanding of justice or how it should be pursued.
That tension gives Meghna Gulzar room to work in territory that has featured prominently in her films: institutions under pressure, individual responsibility and the consequences of difficult choices.
Gulzar has previously directed films including Talvar, Raazi, Chhapaak and Sam Bahadur. Although those projects differ considerably in subject and scale, her work has frequently been driven by characters navigating situations where personal convictions collide with larger systems.
With Daayra, the police investigation provides the framework for another such conflict.
The Certification Adds a Milestone to Kareena Kapoor Khan’s Filmography
The ‘A’ rating is also notable within Kareena Kapoor Khan’s career. According to reports on the film’s certification, Daayra becomes the 10th adult-certified film in her filmography.
Her earlier ‘A’-rated releases include Ajnabee (2001), Chameli (2003), Dev (2004), Omkara (2006), Kurbaan (2009), Heroine (2012), Udta Punjab (2016), Veere Di Wedding (2018) and The Buckingham Murders (2024).
The films have little in common commercially or stylistically. What connects several of them is Kapoor Khan’s willingness to move outside conventional mainstream romantic roles.
Chameli placed her at the centre of a character-driven drama about a sex worker. Vishal Bhardwaj’s Omkara transported Shakespeare’s Othello into the criminal and political landscape of Uttar Pradesh, while Udta Punjab confronted Punjab’s drug crisis through several intersecting lives.
More recently, The Buckingham Murders cast Kapoor Khan as a detective dealing with both a murder investigation and personal grief.
Daayra extends that run of darker material, though its own story and treatment will ultimately determine how closely it resembles any of those earlier films.
Prithviraj Sukumaran Joins Kareena in the Investigation
The pairing of Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran gives the film another point of interest.
Prithviraj has worked extensively across Malayalam cinema while also appearing in Hindi and other Indian-language productions. His role opposite Kapoor Khan allows Daayra to build its central drama around two established performers rather than relying solely on the mechanics of the criminal investigation.
Their characters appear to occupy different positions within the same professional world. Promotional material has suggested that the disagreement between them is not incidental; it shapes the larger question the film wants to examine about law, accountability and justice.
Prithviraj has also spoken playfully about his experience working with Gulzar. At a promotional event for the song Sach Ka Daayra, he recalled having several arguments with the filmmaker during production and joked that she “won every argument.”
The remark offered a lighter glimpse of a collaboration behind what is otherwise being promoted as a serious crime drama.
A Runtime of More Than Two Hours
At 2 hours, 23 minutes and 16 seconds, Daayra is substantial in length for an investigative thriller.
A longer runtime can give a film more space to establish its case, supporting characters and competing perspectives, but the number itself says little about pacing. Whether the film makes effective use of those 143 minutes will become clearer once it reaches theatres.
For now, the certification confirms the version of Daayra that audiences will encounter in cinemas and establishes that its theatrical audience will be restricted to adults.
September 18 Sets Up a Busy Release Weekend
Daayra is scheduled to open theatrically on September 18, 2026, putting Meghna Gulzar’s film into a competitive release window.
Kunal Kemmu’s Vibe is also scheduled for the same date and has reportedly received an ‘A’ certificate. The shared classification does not necessarily make the films direct creative competitors, however, given their different genres and positioning.
For Daayra, the more significant question will be whether a serious, adult-certified police thriller can translate the combined appeal of Kapoor Khan, Prithviraj and Gulzar into sustained theatrical interest.
The certification narrows the potential audience by excluding viewers under 18, but it also means the film will arrive with its adult classification clearly established rather than being marketed as a broadly accessible crime entertainer.
Its ultimate reception will depend less on the certificate than on the investigation at the centre of the story and, crucially, how convincingly the film handles the moral disagreement between the people conducting it.
