Is Malayalam actor Indrajith in Anurag Kashyap's 'Bandar'? Bobby Deol-starrer to be presented at TIFF 2025 | Toronto International Film Festival 2025

 

On Monday night, Indian cinephiles were delighted to see an update of a new Anurag Kashyap film, featuring an unexpected name. The film, titled Bandar (aka 'Monkey in a Cage'), headlined by Bobby Deol, will be screened in the Special Presentation category in the upcoming edition of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

While no plot details have been revealed yet, the makers teased that the film is based on true events. Bobby Deol shared a still from the film on his Instagram page with the caption, "The story that should not have been told... But is the Offical Selection at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival 2025. Our film inspired from true events is premiering at #tiff50."

Written by Abhishek Banerjee and Sudip Sharma, who have collaborated on Paatal Lok, the film has an interesting array of cast members such as Sanya Malhotra, Kannada actor Raj B Shetty, Malayalam actor Joju George, and Saba Azad, among others.

Interestingly, one of the names tagged by Deol is that of Malayalam actor Indrajith Sukumaran, hinting at his presence in the film. (Update: The actor has confirmed his involvement by sharing the poster on his Insta handle.)

Indrajith, who is the brother of Prithviraj Sukumaran, has appeared in the latter's directorial debut Lucifer as the character Govardhan and has to his credit critically acclaimed performances in Malayalam films such as City of God, Ee Adutha Kaalathu and Left Right Left.

Actor-producer Nikhil Dwivedi is producing Bandar under the banner Saffron Magicworks, which also produced Vikramaditya Motwane's last film CTRL, starring Ananya Panday.

The thought of Bobby Deol teaming up with Anurag Kashyap has stirred up a significant amount of chatter and excitement on social media, considering how the former has been lately seen in serious, performance-oriented roles in films such as Class of '83, Love Hostel and Animal.

Kashyap also has another crime film slated for release this year, Nishaanchi, backed by Amazon MGM Studios. Even more exciting is the announcement that the film is going to theatres, with a theatrical release on September 19, 2025.

Nishaanchi revolves around two brothers whose lives are dictated by the varied paths they chose. In his official statement, Kashyap said: "Nishaanchi is a story full of raw human emotions, love, lust, power, crime and punishment, betrayal, redemption and the consequences of it all. I have been extremely fortunate to find a bunch of good people and superb actors and my most beautiful crew to tell this story in the best possible way that I would have wanted."

The film is headlined by newcomer Aaishvary Thackeray, who began as an assistant director in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Bajirao Mastani. Ajay Rai and Ranjan Singh are bankrolling the film under the banner of Jar Pictures jointly with Flip Films. 

Aaishvary Thackeray's co-stars include Vedika Pinto, Monika Panwar, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub and Kumud Mishra in pivotal roles.

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