Anurag Kashyap's Kennedy finally releases in India, but with many cuts; Dawood Ibrahim, Donald Trump references deleted

Anurag Kashyap's Kennedy has released in India this week, almost three years after it premiered at various film festivals around the world.

Published on: Feb 20, 2026, 13:43:05 IST

By Abhimanyu Mathur

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It took nearly three years for Anurag Kashyap’s Kennedy to get a wide release in India. After being screened at the MAMI Film Festival in 2023, the noir thriller finally released on Zee5 on February 20, 2026. However, fans were left a little disappointed when they realised that the streaming version had a number of cuts and deletions, recommended by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

Sunny Leone in a still from Anurag Kashyap's Kennedy.

Kennedy trimmed by CBFC

Kennedy is a thriller with Rahul Bhat in the titular role, alongside Sunny Leone. The film follows a cop who is presumed dead and now works as a hitman for a corrupt senior police officer. The film deals with his quest for revenge against a gangster outside India, while navigating the corruption and power struggles in Mumbai on his master’s behest.

According to a News 18 report, the CBFC passed Kennedy for release with an A certificate, but only after several cuts. This included muting the curse word ‘motherf*****’, adding an anti-smoking disclaimer during all smoking scenes, and removing a 14-second scene.

Hindustan Times verified that the film also removed references to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and US President Donald Trump. In the film, a character named Salim is shown to be an associate of Dawood, but all references to Dawood were replaced with ‘Pakistan Don’. Similarly, a dialogue referring to Donald Trump now includes the phrase ‘Pump Trump’.

Kennedy's journey to India release

Kennedy was screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023, where it received a standing ovation. In India, it premiered at the MAMI Film Festival in Mumbai later that year. Since then, Kennedy has been showcased at several international film festivals, including the Sydney Film Festival, Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (South Korea), Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (Switzerland), the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, and the London Indian Film Festival, among others. However, a theatrical release was not forthcoming.

In 2025, it became the only Indian film to be selected for Letterboxd’s first-ever Video Store. “I am happy that finally the film will be available for the general audience to watch in some parts of the world,” Anurag had said at the time.

Eventually, in January, Zee5 announced that the film would be arriving on streaming in India. A trailer was released earlier this month, and the film released on the platform on February 20. Presented by Zee Studios and produced by Good Bad Films, the film stars Rahul Bhat and Sunny Leone in lead roles, along with Mohit Takalkar, Abhilash Thapliyal and Megha Burman.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Abhimanyu Mathur
Abhimanyu Mathur is Deputy Editor, Entertainment at Hindustan Times. With almost 15 years of experience in writing about everything from films and TV shows to cricket matches and elections, he inhales and exhales pop culture and news. Currently, he watches movies and TV shows and talks to celebrities for a living, while occasionally writing about them as well. A journalism graduate of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Delhi University, Abhimanyu began his career with Hindustan Times at the age of 20, swapping classrooms for newsrooms at an early age. He began his journey in the early days of digital journalism, later switching to the madness of print journalism. Work has led him to far off places like Japan and Jordan, as well as to the interiors of Haryana and the Indo-Pak border. He dabbled in city reporting in places like Meerut, Gurgaon, and Delhi, covered the Olympics and Cricket World Cups, before finding his calling in entertainment and lifestyle during the pandemic. A Rotten Tomatoes Certified Film Critic, he is equally at home covering stories on ground as he is interviewing celebrities and studios, and sometimes prefers to shepherd teams in delivering traffic through the day. Even as his role has evolved from reporter to supervisor over the years, his first love remains writing (and of late, talking on camera). With a good understanding of cinema and its trends, and a keen eye for detail, he continues to spark conversations around showbiz for readers around the world.Read More

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