Archive · 18 Sep 2026
Daayra Review Examines Justice, Law and Police Accountability
Daayra is a film about a terrible crime and what the police do afterward.
Four men accused of attacking and burning Ragini Poojari are killed in what police call an encounter.
Many people celebrate the police action as fast justice.
Officer Ajooni investigates whether the encounter followed the law.
Another officer, Raman, believes the legal system has failed victims too many times.
Ragini’s family had trouble reporting her disappearance and faced delays from the police.
Ajooni follows evidence instead of automatically supporting her colleagues.
Raman is emotionally affected by Ragini’s mother and her fear that justice could take years.
The film asks whether justice can still be called justice when it ignores the law.
Meghna Gulzar’s Daayra follows DCP Ajooni Kohli’s investigation into an encounter that killed four men accused of gang-raping and burning Ragini Poojari.
Ajooni insists justice must remain within the law, while DCP Raman Kumar believes institutional failure can justify action beyond it.
Ragini’s family faces delays, police-station transfers, a CCTV gap and conflicting accounts after reporting her disappearance.
Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran portray Ajooni and Raman as serious officers with competing ideas of justice.
The review praises Kshitee Jog’s performance and finds the film strongest when examining the failures preceding the encounter.
- Who
- DCP Ajooni Kohli, DCP Raman Kumar, Ragini Poojari and her family, and the four men accused of attacking her.
- What
- An investigative drama about a police encounter and the competing ideas of lawful and immediate justice.
- When
- The reviews do not specify when the events take place.
- Where
- The reviews do not identify a specific location.
- Why
- Ajooni investigates the encounter to establish what happened, while the film examines whether action outside the law can be justified after institutional failures.
Justice Within the Law
Justice Beyond the Law
Police response to institutional failure
Justice Within the Law
Ajooni believes officers must follow evidence and legal procedure, even when the system is slow or frustrating.
Justice Beyond the Law
Raman believes that waiting for institutions that repeatedly fail victims can itself become unjust.
How to interpret the encounter
Justice Within the Law
The encounter should be examined through evidence rather than accepted as heroic swift justice.
Justice Beyond the Law
The action becomes emotionally persuasive to a public angered by the crime and the earlier failures faced by Ragini’s family.
Meaning of accountability
Justice Within the Law
Law must do its duty, and police officers must remain within its boundaries.
Justice Beyond the Law
Decisive action outside those boundaries may appear necessary when victims and their families have been failed.
- Film
- Daayra
- Director
- Meghna Gulzar
- Central investigation
- DCP Ajooni Kohli investigates the encounter involving four accused men.
- Victim
- Ragini Poojari, whose family reports her disappearance before her body is found.
- Key conflict
- Ajooni supports evidence and legal procedure; Raman believes systemic failure can make waiting for justice another injustice.
- Ajooni’s actor
- Kareena Kapoor Khan
- Raman’s actor
- Prithviraj Sukumaran
- Noted supporting performance
- Kshitee Jog plays Ragini’s mother.
