Anurag Kashyap has turned a year older and has been getting wishes. Mrunal Thakur also took to social media to share a special birthday wish for the filmmaker. The actress, who is currently working with
him on their upcoming project Dacoit, posted a behind-the-scenes video from the film’s sets, leaving fans excited.
Taking to her Instagram handle, Mrunal Thakur shared behind the scene video and wrote, “Team #Dacoit wishes ‘Inspector Swamy’ aka the multi faceted @anuragkashyap10 sir a very Happy Birthday. He brings flair, aura and stature to the character like only he can. #DACOIT IN CINEMAS WORLDWIDE ON DECEMBER 25th.” Fans also wished him happy birthday in the comment section.
Watch the video here:
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Adivi Sesh Calls Mrunal Thakur The ‘Second Hero’ Of Dacoit
Mrunal Thakur, who stars opposite Sesh, is not just a co-star but a creative partner in shaping the film’s emotional core. “There’s an honesty in the way she works — a rawness and truth that mirrors how I approach my own performances,” says Sesh. “We’re both outsiders in this industry, and that shared sense of having earned our place brings a kind of unspoken understanding between us.”
Their chemistry, however, is rooted not just in compatibility, but in commitment. “We’re both the kind of actors who will do whatever it takes for a film,” he notes. “That kind of commitment can’t be faked — it’s felt. And that’s why Dacoit feels like a two-hero film. We’re not here to outshine each other; we’re here to build something meaningful together.”
Anurag Kashyap’s Bandar, Exploring India’s Prison System
Speaking to Variety, he said, “The idea came from a true story, but we obviously had to navigate very thin lines. You don’t know who’s right, who’s wrong. There was rampant misuse of new laws, with cases of one woman filing eight different cases in eight different police stations with the help of a lawyer and a policeman.” The project took shape when producer Nikhil Dwivedi handed him a newspaper article about a real-life case. “As a filmmaker, diverse stories attract me. As much as possible for me, I try to avoid differentiating between them as commercial or offbeat. This subject fascinated me,” Dwivedi says.
What sets “Monkey in a Cage” apart from Anurag Kashyap’s previous work?
The filmmaker’s unflinching focus on India’s prison system is what made this film stand out. During research, Anurag Kashyap visited prisons and discovered that 77 per cent of inmates are accused of crimes, but their cases take years to come to trial or sometimes never do, often due to corruption, inefficiency, and systemic neglect. “There was a case of a man who came out of prison after 32 years and was declared innocent, but his case never came up for 32 years. That’s an entire lifetime,” Kashyap says. He revealed, “Every actor, every crew, everything had at some point or other had a breakdown. It was so difficult because it’s a very thin line we work on.”
Bandar’s storyline
Starring Bobby Deol, Saba Azad and Sanya Malhotra, the film explores the complex aftermath of #MeToo allegations in digital-age India. It revolves around the story of Samar, a fading television star whose fame is slipping through his fingers after his ex-girlfriend Gayatri accuses him of rape when he blocks all contact with her. The accusation leads to his arrest and throws him into a legal system more determined to keep him behind bars than to seek justice.
Mrunal’s upcoming film
Apart from Dacoit, Mrunal Thakur also has Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai, a comedy with Varun Dhawan and Pooja Hegde scheduled for a 2026 release.
