Prahaar (2026): Rajkummar Rao as Ujjwal Nikam – Cast, Story, Reviews

Prahaar is in cinemas from today, Friday 16 October 2026. It is a Hindi courtroom drama based on real events, with Rajkummar Rao as special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam and Wamiqa Gabbi as his wife, Jyoti. Avinash Arun (Paatal Lok, Killa) directs, and Dinesh Vijan produces for Maddock Films. The film centres on the trial of Ajmal Kasab after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Here is the story, cast, release history, trailer, first reviews and early box office.

First, which Prahaar is this?

There are two Hindi films called Prahaar. The older one is Nana Patekar's 1991 army drama Prahaar: The Final Attack, which he directed and starred in alongside Madhuri Dixit. The 2026 film has nothing to do with it. The new film's full title also varies: announcements used Prahaar – The Untold Story of Ujjwal Nikam, while ticketing sites, trackers and reviews use Prahaar – The Ujjwal Nikam Story. It is the same film.

Prahaar quick facts

• Genre: Biographical courtroom / legal drama
• Release: 16 October 2026, in cinemas
• Director: Avinash Arun (also listed as Avinash Arun Dhaware)
• Producer: Dinesh Vijan, Maddock Films
• Writer: Sumit Roy (as listed in film databases)
• Runtime: About 2 hours 20 minutes (Bollywood Hungama gives 2h 20m; other listings say 140–141 minutes)
• Language: Hindi

What is Prahaar about? (no spoilers)

The film follows Ujjwal Nikam as he builds the prosecution case against Ajmal Kasab, the only attacker captured alive during the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. Most of it plays out in court. The makers sold it with the line "Naa bandook, naa goli, sirf saboot aur sachhai" (no guns, no bullets, only evidence and truth). Alongside the trial, the film shows Nikam's home life and what the case cost his family, including his relationship with his son. Reports say it also looks back at his earlier work, including the 1993 Bombay blasts case.

Speaking to reporters, Nikam said the film focuses on the 26/11 trial rather than the attack itself, and that he had asked the makers not to glorify any character.

Prahaar cast and characters

That cast line-up matches the trailer launch and the reviews. The confusion in some search results is about billing and spelling, not about who is in the film: "Sikandar" is also spelled "Sikander", and Wamiqa Gabbi is sometimes listed as a co-lead even though she plays Nikam's wife, not a lawyer. Rao and Gabbi were last paired in the comedy Bhool Chuk Maaf, which is a very different film.

Release date: from 7 August to 16 October

The release date moved twice before it settled:

1. 7 August 2026 was the first announced date.
2. In July, reports said Maddock Films was pulling the film from that window, which was crowded with other Hindi releases around Independence Day weekend.
3. On 13 August, the makers announced the new date of 16 October 2026, which the trade press reported widely.

Some aggregator pages still show 7 August, which is out of date.

Trailer and music

A teaser came out in late June 2026 and focused mostly on Rao's look as Nikam. The full trailer was launched at the end of September at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), one of the places attacked on 26/11. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Ujjwal Nikam both attended, with Rao, Gabbi, Kher, Prabhakar, Vijan and Arun. Reports give the launch date as 29 or 30 September.

The main song released ahead of the film is "Mumbai Sapno Ka Samandar", a rap track with Emiway Bantai and Sunidhi Chauhan that came out on 12 October as a tribute to the city. Reviews disagree on how much music is in the film itself. Bollywood Hungama says the film has no songs and doesn't need them, while India TV says its one song does not land. Either way, it is not a song-driven film.

First reviews: praise for the cast, split on the film

Reviews came out on 15–16 October, and they are mixed:

• Bollywood Hungama (4/5): calls it a must-watch, praises the screenplay, the courtroom scenes and the background score.
• Filmibeat (3/5): "strictly decent". It finds Rao controlled but the story familiar, and says it never reaches the level its subject promises.
• India TV (2.5/5): says the first half is slow, the courtroom exchanges lack tension and the climax does not pay off.

Two points come up in nearly every review. First, Lalit Prabhakar's Kasab is unsettling, and some critics say he steals scenes from Rao. Second, Wamiqa Gabbi's track as Jyoti is underwritten. Early audience posts on social media follow the same split: many praise Rao's performance and the subject, some say the film is too long, and some point out his accent.

Box office: advance booking and opening-day estimates

All numbers here are early and come from trackers. None are official figures from the makers.

• Advance booking: India TV, quoting Sacnilk data from the afternoon of 15 October, reported about ₹3.08 crore gross for Day 1 including block seats, and about ₹1.13 crore without them. Sacnilk's tracker had Yami Gautam Dhar's Nayyi Navelli, which opened the same day, at about ₹1.39 crore gross for its Day 1 on release morning.
• Day 1 prediction: A trade estimate quoted by Filmibeat expected an opening of around ₹1.5–2 crore net.

A crowded Dussehra weekend

Prahaar did not get an easy release window. Ajay Devgn's Drishyam: The Conclusion (the Hindi Drishyam 3) is in its third week and still pulling audiences. Our Drishyam: The Conclusion box office report has the numbers. Rajinikanth's Jailer 2 opened a day earlier, on Thursday 15 October (see who is really in Jailer 2), and Nayyi Navelli opens on the same Friday.

If you'd rather watch at home this weekend, Hindi movie channels like Star Gold HD and Sony Max HD are streaming live on NoWireTV. Rajkummar Rao fans can also catch up on his horror-comedy run through our Maddock horror comedy universe watch order.

Read next

• New releases this week (13–19 October 2026)
• Upcoming Bollywood movies in October–November 2026
• Diwali 2026 movies in cinemas and on OTT

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