Dacoit: A Love Story is heading to cinemas worldwide on April 10, 2026 — one month from now. The Telugu-Hindi bilingual stars Adivi Sesh as a wrongfully convicted man consumed by revenge and Mrunal Thakur in her first Telugu film. Directed by Shaneil Deo and produced by Supriya Yarlagadda under Annapurna Studios, the film was co-written by Sesh and Deo themselves. It had previously been scheduled for March 19 before being shifted to April 10 to avoid a direct clash with Yash‘s Toxic and Ranveer Singh‘s Dhurandhar 2.
What Is Dacoit: A Love Story About?
Dacoit: A Love Story follows a man sentenced and imprisoned for a crime he traces back to the woman who betrayed him — his former lover. Consumed by anger and the need to settle that score, he engineers a plan to trap her. But as the story unfolds, the line between revenge and the original love that preceded it begins to blur, building into what the makers describe as an emotionally intense thriller built on betrayal, obsession, and consequence.
The screenplay was jointly written by Adivi Sesh and director Shaneil Deo — which means the lead actor shaped the material from the inside. Sesh has done this before: he co-wrote Major (2022), his own biographical tribute to Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, and the discipline of building his own narrative is a defining characteristic of his career. The climax of Dacoit was shot on location in rocky mountain terrain — Sesh posted from the location on New Year’s Day 2026, the final schedule of a production that ran through 2025.
Who Stars in Dacoit and Why Is Anurag Kashyap’s Role Unusual?
Adivi Sesh plays the titular dacoit opposite Mrunal Thakur, for whom Dacoit is a return to Telugu cinema — Thakur is already familiar to Telugu audiences from Sita Ramam (2022) opposite Dulquer Salmaan and Hi Nanna (2023) with Nani, both of which performed strongly. Her presence in Dacoit is a continuation of that track rather than a crossover debut. The rest of the cast includes Prakash Raj, Sunil, Atul Kulkarni, and Zayn Marie Khan.
The most unexpected casting is Anurag Kashyap — one of Indian cinema’s most recognisable directors — stepping in front of the camera in a role the Dacoit teaser describes as the “biggest beast” in the film. Kashyap plays a police officer who is an Ayyappa devotee, a character built around the conflict of duty versus dharma, navigating the law while dealing with the moral weight of who he is pursuing and why. Kashyap described the role as “both fun and challenging,” adding that achieving the same emotional impact in Telugu and Hindi simultaneously pushed him in ways he did not expect. This is not a cameo — it is a substantive character with a distinct moral positioning designed to contrast directly against Sesh’s outlaw protagonist.
What Does the Dacoit Teaser Show?
The teaser presents Adivi Sesh and Mrunal Thakur in full dacoit mode — armed, hunted, and operating outside the law together. The tone is raw and kinetic, avoiding the polished visual grammar of typical Telugu commercial action. A song from the film, Rubaroo, released ahead of the teaser and drew strong response for the chemistry between the two leads — a useful indicator that the romantic thread running through the revenge story is landing as intended.
Who Is Director Shaneil Deo and What Is His History With Adivi Sesh?
Shaneil Deo is making his directorial debut with Dacoit — but his connection to Adivi Sesh predates this film by nearly eight years. Deo served as cinematographer on Goodachari (2018), the Telugu spy thriller that marked Adivi Sesh’s breakthrough as a lead actor. That film — low-budget, tightly constructed, built on craft rather than spectacle — established both men within the Telugu industry in different roles.
The decision to now give Deo the director’s chair on a significantly larger-scale production backed by Annapurna Studios is a direct continuation of that trust. Adivi Sesh is effectively handing his co-written material to a collaborator he has known since before either of them had the profile they carry today. That is a different kind of creative relationship than a star simply signing with a debut director — it is a partnership with an established foundation.
Why Did Dacoit Move From March 19 to April 10?
The original release date of March 19 — the same day as Ustaad Bhagat Singh — was shifted when the April calendar presented a cleaner window. Yash‘s Toxic and Ranveer Singh‘s Dhurandhar 2 were both targeting dates in the same period, and the producers calculated that April 10 offered Dacoit breathing room without a direct clash against a pan-India mass entertainer. For a Telugu-Hindi bilingual with a debut director, avoiding a screen-share battle with either of those films on opening weekend is a commercially rational call.
When and Where Does Dacoit Release?
Dacoit: A Love Story releases in cinemas worldwide on April 10, 2026, simultaneously in Telugu and Hindi. No OTT platform or streaming deal has been announced at the time of writing.