Bandar, directed by Anurag Kashyap alongside co-director Sakshi Mehta Lau, is a grim, complex, and frequently frustrating prison drama. Written by the powerhouse duo Sudip Sharma (Paatal Lok) and Abhishek Banerjee, the film takes a deep dive into the harrowing world of undertrial prisons, raising heavy questions about justice, privilege, and the systemic loops of the Indian legal system.
However, despite a deeply committed performance by Bobby Deol, the film ends up tying itself in narrative knots that prevent it from landing a knockout punch.
The Plot: A Fall From Grace
The film follows Samar Mehra (Bobby Deol), a 50-year-old, over-the-hill entertainer who is financially strapped, suffering from a debilitating backache, and clinging to the remnants of his expired celebrity status. His life hits rock bottom when two brusque police officers drag him away in the dead of night.
Samar has been accused of rape by his ex-girlfriend, Ananya (Sapna Pabbi). Instantly dumped into a squalid undertrial facility, Samar is thrust into a modern-day circus where the law is a blunt instrument and the prisoners are left to fight like caged animals.
Performance Scorecard & Character Guide
| Actor | Character | Role & Impact |
| Bobby Deol | Samar Mehra | Excellent. Captures the flawed, highly vulnerable downward spiral of a desperate man with acute emotional precision. |
| Sapna Pabbi | Ananya | Underwritten. Plays the vengeful ex-girlfriend. The film shifts into problematic territory by painting her purely as psychologically fragile. |
| Sanya Malhotra | Suhani | Solid but Limited. Plays Samar’s fierce sister trying to anchor his defense from the outside. |
| Saba Azad | Khushi | Underutilized. Samar’s current girlfriend met via a dating app; has little room to impact the story. |
| Indrajith Sukumaran | Lijo | Standout. Plays the menacing prison strongman who rules the overcrowded cell. |
| Raj B. Shetty & Natesh Hegde | Undertrials | Memorable. Provide a bizarrely fascinating look into prison subculture as inmates addicted to lizard smoke. |
The Core Dilemma: Victim or Entitled Predator?
The meat of Bandar lies in its refusal to offer easy, clear-cut answers. It forces the audience into an uncomfortable gray zone: Is Samar a genuinely innocent man being systematically destroyed by a biased media and legal overreach, or is he simply facing the music for a lifetime of gendered privilege and entitlement?
The film effectively portrays how a single accusation can completely strip an individual of their humanity. In prison, a rape accused is treated as the lowest tier of outcast. Samar is subjected to unimaginable indignities, packed into a toxic, claustrophobic cell designed for 20 men but stuffed with a hundred.
Where the Film Fails to Stick the Landing
Despite its ambitious premise, Bandar trips over its own feet in a few critical areas:
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A Heavily Skewed Gaze: Despite having Sakshi Mehta Lau on board as co-director, the film’s perspective remains entirely masculine. The women around Samar—his sister, his girlfriend, and his accuser—have a lot to say, but the narrative consistently marginalizes them.
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Problematic Tropes: In its attempt to critique legal overreach and the denial of bail, the screenplay inadvertently takes a problematic turn by reducing the female accuser to a trope of an unstable, vindictive woman out for blood.
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Narrative Clutter: The film introduces a brilliant ensemble of supporting actors inside the prison (such as Sukant Goel and Aamir Aziz), but their stories are frequently lost in the deafening noise of Samar’s mounting despair.
