Movie: Nishaanchi
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Cast: Aaishvary Thackeray, Vedika Pinto, Monika Panwar, Kumud Mishra, Vineet Kumar Singh, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Rajesh Kumar, Durgesh Kumar, Gaurav Singh
Music: Manan Bhardwaj, Anurag Saikia, Aaishvary Thackeray, Dhruv Ghanekar, Nishikar Chibber, Piyush Mishra, Hitesh Sonik, Deepak & Parimal
Runtime: 2hrs 59m
Theatrical Release Date: 19 September 2025
A story of twin brothers torn between crime and conscience, Anurag Kashyap’s Nishaanchi follows Babloo and Dabloo (Aaishvary Thackeray) as they tread starkly different paths. One is lured into the underworld, the other wrestles with morality and loyalty. Between them lies a turbulent mix of family duty, betrayal, and love, embodied by Manjari (Monika Panwar) and Rinku (Vedika Pinto). While Manjari is the twins’ mother, Rinku plays Babloo’s love interest. The film positions itself as a classic Hindi melodrama, though layered with Kashyap’s unmistakable grit.
The film marks the acting debut of Aaishvary Thackeray. In his double role as Babloo and Dabloo, he shoulders the film’s emotional and moral weight. Beyond acting, Aaishvary also contributes musically — he composed and sang for the film, including his quirky track ‘Pigeon Kabootar’. Opposite him, Vedika Pinto — remembered as the ‘Liggi girl’ from Ritviz’s music video — takes her first steps into mainstream cinema.
Set in Kanpur, Nishaanchi wears its milieu with authenticity, soaked in the dust and dialect of Uttar Pradesh. Kashyap draws on the vocabulary of 60s–80s Hindi cinema — grand emotional arcs, love triangles, betrayal, action, and moral dilemmas. At just one minute shy of three hours, the film aims for operatic sweep. Sylvester Fonseca’s cinematography captures the rustic setting with a mix of stylization and realism, while the soundtrack fuses Aaishvary’s own contributions with a broader masala palette.
Much of the buzz may revolve around Aaishvary Thackeray’s double debut, but it is Monika Panwar who quietly delivers the film’s most commanding presence. As Manjari — mother of the twins and wife of wrestler Jabardast Singh (Vineet Kumar Singh) — she becomes the film’s true nishaanchi, a sharpshooter whose rifle serves as both weapon and metaphor. Panwar balances raw toughness with layered vulnerability, embodying a lived-in strength that anchors the story. In a world overrun by crime, betrayal, and toxic masculinity, her presence is calm, controlled, and at times almost mythic.
Compared to the flamboyance of Babloo’s exploits or the moral anguish of Dabloo, Manjari radiates quiet dominance. Her sharpshooter’s eye becomes a symbol of clarity in a murky world where others are clouded by ego and desire. Panwar dwarfs the twins not through spectacle but through subtlety — an economy of gesture, a silencing stare, and gravitas that only comes when a performer fully inhabits her role. In Kashyap’s inversion of genre convention, it is the mother figure who wields the ultimate power, turning the rifle into an instrument of justice rather than destruction. If Aaishvary’s debut proves his potential, it is Panwar who gives Nishaanchi its weight — arguably its most memorable takeaway.
Still, Aaishvary impresses with rustic screen presence and confident command of local dialects. If he charts his journey wisely, this debut could position him as a next-generation Bhiku Mhatre. Supporting the central arc, Kumud Mishra brings gravitas as Ambika Prasad, his dialogue delivery and facial restraint lending the film a grounded seriousness.
By now, Anurag Kashyap films constitute a genre of their own — a heady blend of grit, layered characters, and hinterland textures that his audience instantly recognizes. Nishaanchi sits squarely in that comfort zone, offering Kashyap loyalists the tonal familiarity they expect. It can also be seen as a thematic extension — or even a counterpoint — to his most iconic work, Gangs of Wasseypur.
What makes the film especially intriguing is the sense that Kashyap may be holding something back. A post-credit note hinting at “Part 2” suggests that his larger, more subversive ideas might only surface in the sequel.
For now, Nishaanchi feels like a bold straddle — part mass entertainer, part auteur cinema. It is nostalgic yet experimental, rewarding for Kashyap’s fans but less likely to resonate with generic audiences seeking lighter festive fare. Its dark tones and dense narrative place it firmly in Kashyap’s world — demanding, provocative, and ultimately divisive.
