Simulacra (2026): Rajdeep Choudhury s lifts key stretches, not the full runtime
Rajdeep Choudhury plays his role with a stillness that suggests a man slowly being hollowed out from the inside. There’s a particular scene where his character stares at a digital reflection that warps before his eyes, he doesn’t flinch, and that refusal to react becomes the whole performance.
Choudhury understands that this story demands emotional restraint, not outbursts. He holds the frame like a taut wire, and when he finally breaks, it lands with a force that feels earned.
Pankaj Sawant directs with his brain, not his heart
Sawant’s direction is intellectually rigorous but emotionally cold. He builds a world of unnerving digital surfaces and fractured identities, and the screenplay mirrors that fragmentation with non-linear jumps that occasionally frustrate rather than illuminate.
The weakness is a middle stretch that feels stalled, too many conversations about reality that say the same thing. Still, his control over mood is undeniable.
Genre-core: a thriller that refuses to thrill conventionally
If this is a psychological thriller, it operates more like a slow-burn puzzle box than a pulse-raiser. Sawant doesn’t give you chase sequences or jump scares; instead, he traps you inside his protagonist’s disorienting perception of the world.
The craft is in the quiet details, a flickering light that may or may not be real, a conversation where one character’s mouth moves out of sync with their words. These small touches build a pervasive unease that traditional thrillers often miss.
But the pacing will test you. The film trusts its audience to sit with discomfort, and for many, that trust will feel like neglect. The climax hinges on an ambiguity that some will call bold and others will call evasive.
Lena Bejan and Gandhar Babre: the anchors in the fog
Lena Bejan arrives late in the film but immediately shifts its gravity. Her scene opposite Choudhury, where she calmly dismantles his version of events, is the most sharply written exchange in the entire runtime.
Gandhar Babre plays a tech analyst whose clinical detachment provides a necessary counterpoint to Choudhury’s spiraling confusion. Babre underplays beautifully, making his character’s final ethical choice land with surprising weight.
Anisa Butt gets less to work with but makes her mark in a single shot where she watches Choudhury from across a room; her expression holds the entire film’s unspoken tragedy.
Audience reception: polarised minds, quiet boxes
The film has found its champions among audiences who crave heady, ambiguous storytelling, but it has equally frustrated those expecting conventional resolution. Social media chatter is split along predictable lines: praise for ambition, criticism for self-indulgence.
The lack of a clear villain or hero leaves many feeling adrift. This is a film that demands you meet it halfway, and that’s a deal-breaker for the multiplex crowd.
For more such brain-teasing fare, browse our Hdhub movie reviews.
The ambition of Simulacra is undeniable, but ambition alone doesn’t make a movie watchable. For the cinephile who values concept over comfort, this is a rewarding puzzle; for everyone else, it’s a two-hour test of patience. Catch it on streaming, where you can pause and rewind the bits that baffle you.
Simulacra earns a cautious 3 out of 5, a film to respect more than to love, but one that will linger longer than most of its slicker peers.
If Sawant’s cerebral approach intrigues you, you might appreciate the narrative gamble in Odyssey review.
For another film that asks hard questions of its audience, consider the uncomfortable human drama of Satluj verdict.
Ankit Jaiswal is the Chief Author, covering Indian cinema and OTT releases with honest, no-filler criticism. An SEO strategist by background, he brings a research-driven approach to film writing, cutting through hype to tell you exactly what's worth your time.
