'Pooja Meri Jaan' finally arrives on Zee 5: What to know about Mrunal Thakur's long-delayed crime thriller

It's crazy that a movie would get stuck in "release hell" for four years and still has an air of uncertainty around its "official" streaming date... despite confirmation from the intended release platform. Well, it looks like it's releasing, for good, this time. Mrunal Thakur's Hindi-language crime thriller "Pooja Meri Jaan" is set to premiere exclusively on Zee 5 on October 2, 2026.

Produced by Dinesh Vijan and Amar Kaushik under Maddock Films, the film is directed by Navjot Gulati, with Vipasha Arvind as co-director.

The film stars Mrunal Thakur as Pooja and Huma Qureshi as Sana, along with Vikram Singh Chauhan and Vijay Raaz. With a runtime of 117 minutes, the movie reportedly explores a disturbing story built around rejection, obsession, suspicion and social judgment. Vishal Mishra composed the music.

More on the plot. At the story's core is Pooja, a young woman whose life takes a dark turn after a suspicious death. As the events surrounding the death unfold, different versions of the truth begin to emerge. The film is structured around conflicting perspectives, raising questions about consent, responsibility and the way society judges people when facts are unclear. Rather than presenting a straightforward mystery, the story appears to focus on how assumptions and personal biases can shape people's understanding of an event.

The creative team behind the film includes several experienced names from the Hindi film industry. Director Navjot Gulati made his directorial debut with the romantic comedy "Jai Mummy Di" in 2020. He has also worked as a writer on films such as "Running Shaadi" and "Ginny Weds Sunny", while creating streaming projects including "Grahan" and "Industry" (the Indian series). For Vipasha Arvind, the film marks a feature co-directorial debut after her earlier work behind the scenes.

Gulati co-wrote the film with Kanishka Singh Deo, while Niren Bhatt contributed to the screenplay and dialogues. Bhatt is known for writing popular films including "Bala", "Bhediya", "Munjya" and "Stree 2".

Why the four-year delay?

One of the most unusual aspects of "Pooja Meri Jaan" is the amount of time it has spent waiting for release. Although the film was formally announced in 2022, it had reportedly wrapped principal photography by July that year. It then remained unreleased for around four years.

The delay reportedly has several reasons. Changes in the film's distribution plans, to begin with. The movie was originally developed for a direct-to-digital release on JioCinema. Then, the later merger involving JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar changed the platform's business strategy and disrupted the film's original release pipeline. Negotiations with other streaming platforms also reportedly couldn’t be worked out over its acquisition price.

Director Navjot Gulati later spoke publicly about the difficulties, expressing displeasure at Maddock Films' release strategy. He added that the film had been caught between the production house and potential streaming platforms. A possible theatrical release was also considered in 2024, but that plan was eventually postponed. Maddock Films had several major theatrical projects in its pipeline, including "Chhaava", further complicating scheduling.

This also recalls a similar hurdle that another Maddock Films release, "Tehran", starring John Abraham, underwent. After filming in 2022, it was supposed to release in 2023, but later streamed on Zee 5 in August 2025.

Maddock Films is among India's prominent production houses, known for "Stree", "Bhediya", "Munjya", "Stree 2", "Param Sundari", "Sky Force", "Ikkis", and "Thamma". The company has also produced dramas and thrillers, including "Badlapur", "Hindi Medium", "Mimi" and "Chhorii".