Anurag Kashyap’s film without censor board cuts is almost impossible now, and the same happened with Nishaanchi. It released with 12 changes. The film has the violence of Gangs of Wasseypur on one side and the bold adult romance of Animal on the other. Anurag Kashyap got so absorbed in telling this story that it became his longest film, just a few minutes short of three hours. There is even a post-credit scene at the end, so don’t rush out, because part two gets introduced there.
Cast
- Vedika Pinto
- Monika Panwar
- Vineet Kumar Singh
- Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub
- Kumud Mishra
- Aaishvary Thackeray
- Durgesh Kumar
Photos
Release Date
19 September 2025
Budget
₹50 Crores (estimated)
Director
Anurag Kashyap
Genre
- Comedy
- Drama
- Action
- Mystery
- Crime
Rating
4 / 5
Overview
Nishaanchi film may have received a UA certificate, but it is clearly only for 18+ audiences. Keep children far away. Nishaanchi film also connects to the topic of nepotism. Shah Rukh Khan’s son made his Netflix debut recently, and here the actor carries the surname Thackeray. But for once, it feels like not all nepotism is bad.
Anurag Kashyap, who has already declared that he quit Bollywood, has returned to directing after three years. A couple of his films are still pending release. Honestly, if Bollywood people watch Nishaanchi movie, they will breathe a sigh of relief that he left, otherwise he would have crushed their careers.
Unlike regular Hindi cinema, this Nishaanchi film goes in the opposite direction. At one point, you will question if it should even be called a movie. The heroine doesn’t think about her life, dances for money, drinks, and beats up Kanpur goons. The hero spends time shooting people in the head for fun and ends up in jail. He is no one’s friend, no one’s enemy, living only by his own rules. The villain, strangely enough, respects women the most. With no family of his own, he treats his friend’s children as his own and takes care of them completely.
When the hero is a thug, the lover is destructive, and the villain is a decent man, the story must be watched with the mind more than the eyes.
Nishaanchi is a mind game. Action is only secondary; the true focus is on the way the story is told. The idea revolves around two prisons—one is the physical jail where prisoners wear white, and the other is the larger prison of everyday life where we all live in colorful clothes, committing small crimes to survive. It deliberately confuses good and bad, shows uncomfortable conversations between a boy and girl, and adds sudden sound effects to make you restless. That’s Anurag Kashyap’s cinema.
But surprisingly, the story is not even about these three characters. It is about the Nishaanchi, the one who can even shoot a flying bird. There is also a surprise cameo that I won’t reveal, because the film is being sold on that.
Vineet Kumar Singh proves again why he is one of the finest actors in Indian cinema. He can transform into anything—good, bad, comic, romantic, violent. His performance shows how politics outside films is stronger than inside, otherwise he would be ruling the industry by now.
Monica, just 31, faces Kumud Mishra, who is 53, with such intensity that you can clearly see fear in his eyes. Her work destroys the arrogance of many so-called top actors. Girish, who plays the younger Kumud Mishra, delivers such a wild and rude performance that you wonder how he is normal in real life. These are artists more than just actors.
Nishaanchi movie itself is more of an experiment than a box office film. Fewer people will watch it, but those who do will still talk about it after ten years. Like Gangs of Wasseypur movie, it begins as a crime drama with themes of fathers, sons, love, revenge, blood, bullets, and abuses, but soon turns to the raw animal side of the hero. Anurag Kashyap casts raw new actors who perform so naturally it feels almost too real, without worrying about their future or next role.
Aaishvary Thackeray plays a double role so convincingly that it looks like he might be a real-life twin. His psycho character is brutal, sharp, and never slips out of control. Opposite him, Vedika leaves a lasting impression with the final scene of part one, which feels physically disturbing. The music adds another surprising layer—songs you have never heard before, all unique, some made only from film titles, and even a completely English track sung by a village band in Kanpur.
To be honest, part one has already crossed so many limits that I feel in part two Anurag Kashyap will create something that makes Animal movie look small in comparison. This Nishaanchi is unfiltered cinema—raw actors, powerful performances, shocking music, twin characters, and a past-present style of storytelling.
The negatives are that Nishaanchi film is too long and drags during character building. Also, the word Nishaanchi was not very clearly used in the film. But if you want to see something truly unusual and unlike anything else, book a ticket and surrender yourself to Anurag Kashyap.