Kareena Kapoor Khan, Prithviraj Sukumaran’s ‘Daayra’ to Launch Junglee Pictures-Pen Studios Slate Partnership (EXCLUSIVE)
Junglee Pictures and Pen Studios have formed a film-slate partnership, launching it with “Daayra”, a crime thriller starring Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran and directed by Meghna Gulzar. The collaboration combines Junglee’s emphasis on story-led development with Pen’s production and theatrical distribution capabilities, aiming to create films with broad Indian and international appeal.
Inspired by true events, “Daayra” explores a crime’s aftermath and questions of guilt, punishment, legal limits and public expectations of justice; it is due in cinemas on 18 September. The deal comes amid a strong recovery in Indian theatrical business: Hindi cinema grossed $577 million in 2025, while Hindi films collected $295 million in the first half of 2026, with original Hindi-language productions accounting for 93% of Hindi box-office revenue in 2025.
In short
- Junglee Pictures and Pen Studios begin a new film partnership with “Daayra”.
- The crime thriller stars Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran.
- It arrives amid renewed growth in India’s Hindi-language box office.
Explained simply
Junglee Pictures and Pen Studios are Indian film companies working in different parts of production and release. Junglee is known for developing films around stories, while Pen has experience producing films and distributing them in cinemas. A slate partnership lets companies work together on a group of films over time.
Daayra is a crime thriller directed by Meghna Gulzar and starring Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran. It draws on true events and explores how people respond to a crime, including questions about guilt, punishment and what justice should mean. The partnership reflects efforts to make films that can reach audiences in India and abroad, as cinema-going in India has recovered.
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