Manoj Bajpayee is set to return to familiar yet morally complex territory as a police officer in the upcoming thriller Ghooskhor Pandat, officially announced at the Netflix India Slate event in Mumbai on Tuesday. The streaming platform also shared the film’s teaser on its official Instagram handle, offering audiences their first glimpse of Bajpayee’s intense new character.
Written by Neeraj Pandey and directed by Ritesh Shah, Ghooskhor Pandat centres on Ajay Dikshit, a deeply flawed and morally compromised police officer played by Bajpayee. According to the film’s logline, Ajay is planning what he believes will be a lucrative, eventful night driven by corruption and personal gain. However, his plans spiral out of control when he is unexpectedly pulled into a global conspiracy.
The turning point arrives when Ajay discovers a badly injured young girl, thrown out of a moving car in the heart of Delhi. As he escorts her to the hospital, Ajay becomes entangled in a dangerous chain of events far beyond his control. What begins as a routine act soon forces him to confront consequences that threaten to dismantle his carefully constructed world.
While the teaser highlights Bajpayee’s performance as a corrupt cop caught between greed and survival, it is the title of the film that has dominated online conversations. Soon after the teaser’s release, several social media users criticised the name Ghooskhor Pandat, calling it casteist and accusing the makers and Netflix of targeting a specific community. Many users demanded a title change, while others called for a boycott of the project.
Social media platforms were flooded with reactions. One user warned Netflix against “normalising hatred,” while another questioned whether similar titles referencing other communities would ever be approved. As of now, Netflix and the film’s makers have not issued an official response to the criticism.
The Netflix slate announcement also highlighted Ikka, a separate project directed by Siddharth P. Malhotra. Ikka stars Sunny Deol as a lawyer, seen in the first look confronting Akshaye Khanna’s character, an accused murderer, during tense courtroom and police station scenes. The film also features Tillotama Shome, Dia Mirza, Sanjeeda Shaikh, Shishir Sharma, and Akansha Ranjan.
With Ghooskhor Pandat and Ikka, Netflix continues to bet on gritty, performance-driven storytelling. While both films promise compelling narratives, Ghooskhor Pandat has already ignit