From
Cannes to Kala Ghoda, the film Kennedy has had quite a journey. It had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023 and earlier this week, premiered its trailer locally at the Kala Ghoda festival in Mumbai. Star Rahul Bhat, who was present with co-star Sunny Leone at the launch, spoke about the film’s journey these past three years. The actor also revealed to us how coming back to Mumbai was a homecoming for the film. He plays a character named Kennedy, a former police officer who is now a hitman. Written and directed by Anurag Kashyap, Kennedy will be released on Zee5 on February 20.
Why Rahul Bhat never gave up hope for Kennedy’s release?
In an interview with Zoom,
Rahul Bhat shared that he was confident that
Kennedy was going to be released. He stated, “No, I knew it will come out for sure because it has to come out. Zee Studios has made the film. They have invested so much in it. It had to come out, but it was only a matter of time that it took a long time. But the best part was that the film remained valid because it was traveling. Generally, films travel a season for the film festivals. But it just kept traveling and kept reaching people. Even now, we have enquiries about the film. This is something very magical and strange about this film. That people are still interested.
Main toh khahunga, der aaye par darust aaye [I will say, better late than never].”
In December 2025,
Kennedy was also part of Letterboxd’s inaugural video store as the first Indian film. Rahul shared that so many people watched it on Letterboxd and gave it good reviews. His belief was that all artists really want is for their art to reach people. Calling it a relief and a happy moment, Rahul added, “People are loving it because it's a kind of cinema that those who are fans of Anurag will really cherish this film. We are very hopeful that we will be received well.”
Shooting in Mumbai for Kennedy
The actor also shared that he and the team of
Kennedy were excited to present the film’s trailer at the Kala Ghoda earlier this week, as much of the shooting had been completed in South Mumbai. Recalling the 30-day shoot, Rahul said, “The time period of the film is during COVID, but we shot it when COVID was over. But thanks to the great production design and producers, they kind of pulled it off. Yes, and shooting in Mumbai, it's always challenging because such a busy city, and the whole film is on the streets mostly. It was a challenge, but fun also.”
The
Black Warrant actor also teased a difficult one-take scene in which his character goes on a killing rampage. He proudly revealed that they got it right in the first take and it was “absolutely pitch-perfect.”
Rahul Bhat's upcoming projects
While audiences are eager to see Rahu again in Netflix’s
Black Warrant Season 2, there might be a bit of a wait. When asked about when the new season would be, the actor deferred to co-creator Vikramaditya Motwane, saying, “I think he knows it best. I'm really looking for Black Warrant 2. It's amazing the kind of love the show has got. Yes, there are many stories that can be told in a jail.”
Talking about his upcoming features, Rahul revealed, “I finished a film called Lost and Found in Kumbh, which is a lighthearted children's comedy film. Then I finished a love story with
Dia Mirza. And so I'm doing all kinds of roles. I don't want to do one kind of role. I like to kind of experiment with different kinds of roles and scripts. That's a good thing.” Finally, elaborating on his dream role, the actor hoped to play it all. He exclaimed, “I want to play Godfather. I want to play Mughal-e-Azam. I want to play Deewaar. I want to play so many characters that I can think of, but it is now every role that I get. Now I feel that, okay, let's make this a dream role. Let's do something interesting. Let me give my 100 per cent to this.”
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