Prahaar: The Real Ujjwal Nikam Story Behind Rajkummar Rao's Courtroom Film

Prahaar isn't really a film about a lawyer. It's a film about what it took to put the 26/11 attacks on trial.

Rajkummar Rao plays Ujjwal Nikam, the special public prosecutor whose name became familiar to most of India during the trial of Ajmal Kasab. Directed by Avinash Arun, the film opened in cinemas on 16 October and is now trending again as it crosses ₹20 crore.

The real story, briefly

Nikam was the state's lead prosecutor in two of the biggest terror cases in Indian history:

• The 1993 Bombay blasts case, one of the longest and most complex criminal trials the country has seen

• The 26/11 trial, after the 2008 Mumbai attacks, in which Kasab, the only attacker captured alive, was convicted and sentenced to death in 2010. He was hanged in 2012

He received the Padma Shri in 2016. The film draws on both cases, but it's built around the 26/11 trial and the work of proving that the attack was planned and directed from across the border.

The Jaideep Ahlawat character

The most interesting choice in Prahaar is its second lead. Jaideep Ahlawat plays Chaudhary Zulfiqar Ali, a prosecutor on the Pakistani side whose legal battle the film runs alongside Nikam's.

He's based on a real person. Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali was the Pakistani federal prosecutor handling the Mumbai attacks case there, and he was shot dead in Islamabad in 2013. Putting him on screen as an unlikely mirror to Nikam is the film's biggest swing.

How it's doing

Prahaar has been a slow, steady performer rather than a hit:

• Week 1: about ₹17.15 crore net, with a best day of ₹3.65 crore on the first Sunday

• Second weekend: ₹0.60 crore (Friday), ₹1.15 crore (Saturday), ₹1.20 crore (Sunday)

• 10-day total: about ₹20.10 crore net in India, ₹26.78 crore worldwide

It has also been competing for screens with the much bigger Jailer 2. For a courtroom drama with no songs-and-spectacle hook, crossing ₹20 crore is respectable, if not a breakout.

Rao has more coming. His next big swing is the Sourav Ganguly biopic Dada, whose Lord's balcony first look went viral in July.

OTT release

Not confirmed. Some reports expect Prahaar on Netflix around the end of November or in early December, based on the usual theatrical window, but neither the makers nor Netflix has announced anything.

Box office figures are trade-tracked estimates as of 26 October 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Is Prahaar based on a true story?

Yes. It dramatises the career of special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, focusing on the 1993 Bombay blasts case and the trial of Ajmal Kasab after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Who plays Ujjwal Nikam in Prahaar?

Rajkummar Rao. The cast also includes Jaideep Ahlawat, Wamiqa Gabbi, Lalit Prabhakar, Sikandar Kher and Ashish Vidyarthi. Avinash Arun directs.

How much has Prahaar collected?

About ₹20.10 crore net in India in 10 days, and about ₹26.78 crore gross worldwide, per trade estimates.

When will Prahaar release on OTT?

No date or platform has been officially announced. Some reports expect Netflix, but neither the makers nor the platform has confirmed it.