Before Daarya, 5 Times Bollywood Gave Us A Cop Character We Couldn’t Look Away From

National Award-winning filmmaker Meghna Gulzar’s Daayra is one of the most anticipated releases of September 2026. Produced by Junglee Pictures and Pen Studios, the crime thriller features Kareena Kapoor Khan and Prithviraj Sukumaran in lead roles. Kareena essays the role of ACP Ajooni Kohli, while her co-star Prithviraj plays DCP Raman Kumar. The film presents two police officers on oppposing sides of a case that challenges the idea of right and wrong. Before it arrives on the big screen (September 18), let’s take a trip down memory lane and look at five times Bollywood delivered iconic cop characters.

Salman Khan played the role of fearless Police Inspector in Anubhav Sinha’s  . As Chulbul Pandey, he punished the corrupt villains and protected the innocent. Chulbul Pandey wasn’t just fearless, he was witty and a good-hearted cop too. He had a different way of dealing with criminals and corruption. One of Salman’s most memorable dialogues as Chulbul continues to be – “Hum tum mein itne ched karenge … ki confuse ho jaoge ki saans kahan se lein… aur paadein kahan se.” The movie released theatrically in 2010. Khan later reprised the same character in Dabangg 2 and Dabangg 3.

A year after Salman won everyone’s heart as Inspector Chulbul Pandey, Ajay Devgn surprised audiences with his fierce cop character – Bajirao Singham. Helmed by Rohit Shetty, Singham presented Ajay as a fierce and honest police officer. “Aata majhi satakli,” is the first dialogue that comes to our mind when we think about Bajirao Singham. It is undoubtedly one of the most loved and iconic police officer roles of all time. After the massive success of the first part, Rohit extended the franchise with Singham Returns in 2014. A decade later, the third installment, Singham Again, was made with Ajay returning in the titular role. Interestingly, Salman made a cameo appearance in the project.

In 2014, Rani Mukerji impressed the masses by taking up role that she hadn’t attempted earlier. The actress played a female police officer in late director Pradeep Sarkar’s Mardaani. In fact, it was refereshing for audiences to see an actress in a cop character and headlining the movie. As Shivani Shivaji Roy, Rani was seen as honest, fearless and principled police officer. Following its box office success, Mardaani 2 was made in 2019. Seven years later, Rani returned as Shivani Shivaji Roy in the third installment.

Filmmaker Rohit Shetty expaned his cop universe with Ranveer Singh-starrer Simmba in 2018. It was the first time audiences saw Ranveer in a cop role. The actor played the character of Inspector Sangram Bhalerao. While Bajirao Singham was a fearless and honest officer, Sangram Bhalerao was more of a flamboyant and quick-witted cop. While he strated off as corrupt officer, a personal tragedy turned him into a righteous one who delivered justice.

Way before audiences were introduced to Chulbul Pandey, Bajirao Singham and others, Prakash Mehra’s 1973 Zanjeer gave us Inspector Vijay Khanna. Played by Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan, Vijay Khanna is the iconic cop character of all time. He was a tough, honest and fearless police officer who set out to avenge his parents’ murder.

With  releasing in theatres on September 18, we are excited to watch Kareena and Prithviraj as DCP Ajooni and DCP Raman.