**Bobby Deol** and **Anurag Kashyap**’s collaborative film **Bandar** (also known as *Monkey in a Cage*) has confirmed its worldwide theatrical release date as **May 22, 2026**. The announcement came on February 20, 2026, when Bobby Deol shared the news on Instagram, confirming the much-awaited project’s arrival in theatres. Directed by Anurag Kashyap and produced by Nikhil Dwivedi under Saffron Magicworks (Zee Studios is handling distribution), the Hindi-language crime-thriller is written by Sudeep Sharma and Abhishek Banerjee.
The film premiered in the Special Presentation section of the **2025 Toronto International Film Festival** (TIFF) on September 6, 2025, where it received critical acclaim and audience attention for its bold, confrontational story. Inspired by real events, it stars Bobby Deol as Samar, a fading television star who is accused of rape and battling a corrupt legal system. It stars Sanya Malhotra, Saba Azad, Sapna Pabbi, Indrajith Sukumaran and others and blends Hindi, Marathi and English dialogues across its 140-minute runtime.
The project is a great collaboration between Kashyap’s powerful style and Deol’s dynamic screen presence. Bobby Deol, who started his career in the 1990s with romantic hits like *Barsaat*, *Gupt*, and *Soldier*, faced a mid-career slump but made a tremendous comeback. Recent notable roles include *Animal* (2023) with Ranbir Kapoor, web series *Ashram*, and Netflix’s *The Bads of Bollywood*. Her last theatrical film was *Hari Hara Veera Mallu* (with Pawan Kalyan).
Deol’s next film is *Jana Nayakan* (2026), a Tamil political action thriller directed by H. Vinoth, starring Vijay (this may be his last film before politics). The trailer reveals that Deol is playing the main villain in it, and is vowing to kill Vijay’s character within 30 days. The release dates of other projects like *Jan Nayakan* and YRF’s *Alpha* (with Alia Bhatt) are not confirmed yet.
*Bandar*’s festival buzz and its run in theaters makes it an important release in 2026, promising intense drama and social commentary.
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