The primary teaser of Prahaar: The Ujjwal Nikam Story has reignited curiosity in considered one of India’s most high-profile authorized battles.
Directed by Avinash Arun, the courtroom drama stars Rajkummar Rao as celebrated public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam and centres on the prosecution of Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist of the 26/11 Mumbai terror assaults.
The teaser opens with Rao, wearing a lawyer’s robes, as Nikam’s voiceover addresses a query that lingered all through the trial: why, regardless of overwhelming proof in opposition to Kasab, did the federal government not instantly punish him.
It then shifts to one of many defining moments of the prosecution, the choice by injured police officer Inspector Sanjay Govilkar to not kill Kasab throughout his seize.
In a strong courtroom trade recreated within the teaser, Nikam argues that Govilkar spared Kasab as a result of he was very important proof.
“Yahi karan hai ki hum Kasab jaise aatankwadi ko bhi kanoon ke raste par chal kar uske gunaho ki saza denge, hum?” he says, emphasising that even a terrorist could be punished solely via due strategy of legislation.
The teaser builds in direction of Nikam demanding the demise penalty for Kasab for waging warfare in opposition to India, earlier than ending with glimpses of Jaideep Ahlawat, Wamiqa Gabbi and Sikandar Kher.
Whereas the movie revisits one of many nation’s most important terrorism trials, it has additionally introduced renewed consideration to a different chapter of Nikam’s profession: his 2015 admission that he had fabricated the now-famous “mutton biryani” story related to Kasab.
26/11, Kasab And The Trial That Held India’s Consideration
On the night time of November 26, 2008, ten closely armed terrorists from Pakistan carried out coordinated assaults throughout Mumbai, concentrating on landmarks together with the Taj Mahal Palace Resort, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Leopold Cafe, Nariman Home and Oberoi Trident.
The assaults lasted almost 60 hours, leaving greater than 160 folks lifeless and a whole bunch injured.
Ajmal Kasab was the one attacker captured alive. His arrest grew to become a vital turning level within the investigation, permitting Indian businesses to determine the planning and execution of the assaults.
A particular courtroom convicted Kasab on Could 3, 2010, discovering him responsible of 80 offences, together with homicide and waging warfare in opposition to India. He was sentenced to demise on 4 counts and life imprisonment on 5 others.
The Bombay Excessive Courtroom upheld the sentence in 2011, adopted by the Supreme Courtroom in August 2012. After his mercy petition was rejected by the President of India, Kasab was executed by hanging at Yerwada Central Jail in Pune on November 21, 2012, simply days earlier than the fourth anniversary of the assaults. He was buried throughout the jail premises.
All through the proceedings, Ujjwal Nikam led the prosecution for the state, making him one of the vital recognisable faces of the trial.
Three Years After Kasab’s Hanging Got here A Startling Admission
For years, one story repeatedly surfaced each time Kasab’s imprisonment was mentioned: that the terrorist had demanded mutton biryani whereas lodged in jail.
In 2015, nonetheless, Nikam publicly admitted that the story was not true.
Talking on the sidelines of a global convention on counterterrorism in Jaipur, he stated, “Kasab by no means demanded biryani and was by no means served by the federal government. I concocted it simply to interrupt an emotional environment which was taking form in favour of Kasab in the course of the trial of the case.”
Explaining why he had executed so, Nikam described an incident in the course of the proceedings when Kasab appeared emotional in courtroom.
“Media was minutely observing his physique language and he was effectively conscious of it. Sooner or later, within the courtroom room, he bowed his head and wiped his eyes. Moments later, digital media broke the information – tears in Kasab’s eyes. It was Rakshabandhan that day, and panel discussions had been began within the media on it. Some guessed Kasab bought emotional in reminiscence of his sister and a few even went on to query whether or not he was a terrorist or not,” Nikam stated.
In keeping with him, the media narrative prompted him to reply.
“This type of emotional wave and environment was wanted to [be] stopped. So, after that, I gave an announcement to the media saying Kasab has demanded mutton biryani within the jail,” he added.
He later acknowledged that the declare itself had no foundation.
“The reality is that Kasab neither requested for biryani nor it was served.”
The admission reignited debate as a result of the “biryani” narrative had already change into one of the vital enduring public myths surrounding Kasab’s imprisonment.
The Shakti Mills Trails And One other Episode Of A ‘Scripted Drama’
The Kasab episode was not the one time Nikam’s courtroom conduct drew scrutiny.
Throughout the Shakti Mills gang rape trial, members of the Rahat staff that supported the survivor alleged that Nikam had tried to script a dramatic courtroom second.
In keeping with their account, the day earlier than the survivor’s deposition, she was allegedly informed that she may beat the accused together with her chappals in courtroom. They claimed Nikam even examined her footwear, discovered it too flimsy and requested investigators to acquire a sturdier pair.
The deliberate confrontation, nonetheless, by no means passed off.
When the survivor later hesitated throughout her deposition, the choose reportedly defined that she couldn’t assault the accused and that the legislation would take its course.
In keeping with the Rahat staff’s account, Nikam later informed ready media that the survivor had needed to hit the accused together with her slippers from the witness field, a declare they argued exaggerated what had truly transpired contained in the courtroom.
The episode grew to become one other occasion during which Nikam’s strategies had been publicly questioned, at the same time as he remained one of many nation’s most outstanding prosecutors.
A Profession Outlined By Landmark Instances
Born in Maharashtra’s Jalgaon, Ujjwal Nikam started his authorized profession as a district prosecutor earlier than dealing with a number of of India’s most high-profile legal and terrorism instances.
Over greater than three a long time, he prosecuted instances together with the 1993 Bombay serial blasts, the Gulshan Kumar homicide case, the Pramod Mahajan homicide case, the 2013 Mumbai gang rape case and the 2016 Kopardi rape and homicide case.
In keeping with publicly accessible information, he secured 628 life imprisonments and 37 demise penalties throughout his profession.
He represented India on the United Nations on points referring to international terrorism, obtained the Padma Shri in 2016, and was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 2025 by President Droupadi Murmu for his contributions to the sector of legislation.
Now, with Prahaar set to launch on August 7, Nikam’s courtroom victories are as soon as once more in public dialog. So too are the moments outdoors the courtroom, together with an admission made years after the Kasab trial that considered one of its most enduring tales was by no means true in any respect.
