One of 2026’s keenly awaited cinematic releases, Bandar is all set to arrive in cinemas worldwide on May 22, 2026. Headlined by Bobby Deol, the film brings together a formidable creative team led by director Anurag Kashyap and writers Sudip Sharma and Abhishek Banerjee.
Bandar first look out
The poster is divided into stripes of red and green and shows Bobby Deol behind the bars, wearing sparkly sunglasses and staring ahead.
Fresh off his impactful performances in recent years, Bobby Deol takes on the lead in this intense drama that is produced by Nikhil Dwivedi and backed by Zee Studios.
Bandar is helmed by acclaimed director Anurag Kashyap, and has been penned by Sudip Sharma and Abhishek Banerjee, the writers behind acclaimed projects such as Pataal Lok, Kohrra and Udta Punjab. Sudip Sharma recently also directed Kohrra 2, which has received rave reviews.
Bandar has already created significant international buzz after premiering at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival 2025 in the Special Presentation category. Critics at TIFF hailed it as “hard-hitting, unflinching, and deeply impactful,” firmly establishing it as one of the festival’s most discussed and standout entries.
The ensemble cast includes Sanya Malhotra, Raj B Shetty, Jitendra Joshi, Sapna Pabbi, Indrajith Sukumaran, Riddhi Sen, and Nagesh Bhosle in pivotal roles.
With a strong creative team and a compelling cast, Bandar is positioned as one of the key theatrical releases of 2026!
Anurag Kashyap on his Netflix project being shelved
Following the controversy around Saif Ali Khan’s Prime Video show Tandav, OTT platforms reportedly became more cautious about approving potentially sensitive scripts. At the time, Kashyap was working on an adaptation of Suketu Mehta’s book Maximum City. Owing to the prevailing situation in the country then, Netflix eventually backed out of the project. Anurag recently opened up about how deeply it affected him.
He said the project had been officially greenlit and that he had written a 900-page script. “It was greenlit by Netflix. I told them, ‘Please read the book.’ Nobody except one person on the team read the book… There was silence for one-and-a-half years, and no one came and told me ‘it’s not happening.’ That was even more triggering.”
He revealed that the grief severely impacted his health. “In that grieving, I had a heart attack. I was on blood thinners, a vaccine reacted badly, I got asthma, so I was on steroids… My mind was buzzing… I started drinking and ordering from Zomato all the time. My drinking got very bad.” Kashyap eventually checked himself into rehab to recover.
