📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Strivedi1
Entertainment
Rajkummar Rao’s National‑Award‑Winning Film ‘Shahid’ Arrives on OTT Platforms After 13‑Year Gap
✍️ Hindustan Times
🗓 29 Sep 2026, 10:18 AM
👁 13
The critically acclaimed drama ‘Shahid’, starring Rajkummar Rao and a National Film Award winner, has finally been made available on streaming services 13 years after its theatrical debut.
The biographical drama ‘Shahid’, which earned a National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi and featured Rajkummar Rao in the lead role, has been released on an over‑the‑top (OTT) platform after a 13‑year hiatus since its original theatrical run. The film, directed by Hansal Mehta, chronicles the life of human‑rights lawyer Shahid Azmi and was first screened in cinemas in 2012.
The delayed digital launch has drawn attention from industry insiders, with screenwriter Apurva Asrani publicly questioning why the film remained unavailable for streaming for so long. Asrani suggested that the hold‑up may be linked to rights negotiations and changing market dynamics for older titles.
Streaming services have increasingly added award‑winning Indian content to their libraries, and the arrival of ‘Shahid’ expands the catalogue of critically acclaimed cinema accessible to a wider audience. Viewers can now watch the film on the announced platform, though exact subscription details have not been disclosed.
The release is expected to revive interest in Shahid Azmi’s legacy and spark renewed discussions about the legal and social issues depicted in the film, which continues to resonate more than a decade after its debut.
The delayed digital launch has drawn attention from industry insiders, with screenwriter Apurva Asrani publicly questioning why the film remained unavailable for streaming for so long. Asrani suggested that the hold‑up may be linked to rights negotiations and changing market dynamics for older titles.
Streaming services have increasingly added award‑winning Indian content to their libraries, and the arrival of ‘Shahid’ expands the catalogue of critically acclaimed cinema accessible to a wider audience. Viewers can now watch the film on the announced platform, though exact subscription details have not been disclosed.
The release is expected to revive interest in Shahid Azmi’s legacy and spark renewed discussions about the legal and social issues depicted in the film, which continues to resonate more than a decade after its debut.