Birds in the Dark (2026): Cast, Story and Release Details

Prepared by Movies Dock Editorial

Birds in the Dark follows a police informant, a Kashmiri man in custody and a workers’ movement whose paths converge in a Punjabi town. Blending romance and drama, the film explores solidarity, class struggle, gender, caste violence and mutual aid across Punjabi, Urdu and Kashmiri languages.

Birds in the Dark is a 2026 Indian romance drama written and directed by Shashank Walia. Its story moves from a tense journey through jungle and mountain landscapes to a town shaped by agricultural labour and collective resistance.

The film connects the lives of Jagtar, Amir, Dilraj and Raman through questions of freedom, belonging, love and solidarity. With Punjabi, Urdu and Kashmiri dialogue, it places personal relationships within a broader social and political setting.

Birds in the Dark movie details

Story without spoilers

Jagtar, a police informant, takes Amir, a Muslim man from Kashmir, into custody. While transporting him through the jungle and mountains toward a busy city, Jagtar makes the decision to release him and return to the hometown he previously left behind.

Back in the town, agricultural workers are beginning to organize. Jagtar encounters Raman, a landowner and former lover, while Amir later arrives in search of Jagtar. Amir’s meeting with Dilraj, the leader of the workers’ organization, introduces him to a growing sense of solidarity. The story brings these personal and collective threads together without reducing the film to a single relationship or conflict.

What to expect

The supplied premise points to a socially engaged drama with a strong romantic and political dimension. Its subjects include solidarity, love, gender, class struggle, queer identity, caste violence, mutual aid and labour. The narrative appears to move between intimate reunions and the organizing efforts of agricultural workers, while intersectionality provides an important context for the characters’ experiences.

The multilingual setting is also central to the film’s identity: the dialogue is in Punjabi, Urdu and Kashmiri. Viewers can expect a story concerned with displacement, social divisions and the possibility of connection across them, though the available information does not indicate how these themes are ultimately resolved.

Cast and creative team

Shashank Walia serves as both director and writer. Mauli Singh plays Dilraj, the leader of the workers’ organization, while Harwinder Singh Aujla portrays Jagtar. Navdeep Bajwa appears as Raman, Jagtar’s former lover, and Sapna DAS plays Rinku. Shahnawaz Bhat is also part of the cast, with no character name supplied.

• Mauli Singh as Dilraj
• Sapna DAS as Rinku
• Harwinder Singh Aujla as Jagtar
• Shahnawaz Bhat
• Navdeep Bajwa as Raman

Release and production context

Birds in the Dark is listed as a 2026 Indian production with a runtime of 2 hours and 22 minutes. It is scheduled for release on October 10, 2026. The film is produced by Two Black Squares Media and True Story Films, and its spoken languages are Punjabi, Urdu and Kashmiri.

Production companies: Two Black Squares Media, True Story Films

Birds in the Dark official trailer

Watch the official trailer on YouTube

Movies Dock view

Birds in the Dark brings a personal story of separation and reunion into contact with agricultural workers’ organizing and questions of social justice. Its combination of romance, drama and multilingual storytelling gives the film a wide thematic frame while keeping its characters at the center.

Film data:
TMDB · IMDb