Rajkummar Rao to lead Maddock Films’ Prahaar – The Ujjwal Nikam Story; to release on August 7, 2026

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Producer Dinesh Vijan and actor Rajkummar Rao are set to collaborate once again for Prahaar – The Ujjwal Nikam Story, a new drama inspired by events that left a lasting impact on the nation. The film is scheduled to release in cinemas on August 7, 2026. Directed by Avinash Arun, the project will see Rajkummar Rao in the lead role. The cast also includes Wamiqa Gabbi, Sikander Kher, and Jaideep Ahlawat in pivotal roles. The film is being produced under the banner of Maddock Films. While the makers have kept plot details under wraps, the title indicates that the film will draw inspiration from the life and work of Ujjwal Nikam, one of India's most prominent public prosecutors. The announcement describes the film as a hard-hitting drama inspired by incidents that shaped public discourse and captured national attention. The project marks another chapter in the long-standing creative partnership between Rajkummar Rao and Maddock Films. Over the years, the actor has become one of the st...
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‘It has become a sort of silver bullet’: why are rap lyrics being put on trial?

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In compelling documentary As We Speak, a controversial legal practice that uses rap lyrics to secure convictions is explored

In September 2001, McKinley Phipps Jr, also known as the rapper Mac, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for manslaughter. It had been a year and a half since gunfire erupted outside a club where he was slated to perform in Slidell, Louisiana, resulting in the death of 19-year-old Barron Victor Jr. Phipps, then 22, maintained his innocence, and the case against him was weak – there was no gun linking him to the crime, several witnesses recanted their testimony and another person confessed to pulling the trigger. And yet, prosecutors had their trump card: Mac, a former New Orleans rap prodigy who began releasing music at the age of 13, had rapped about murder.

“Murder, murder, kill, kill”, Phipps recites in As We Speak: Rap Music on Trial, a new documentary on the criminalization of rap lyrics. Prosecutors spliced that line with one from a different song – “Pull the trigger, put a bullet in your head” – to create the portrait of a killer; Mac’s art was the evidence that DNA, solid confessions, or a missing weapon couldn’t provide. An all-white jury bought it. Phipps served over 21 years in prison before being granted clemency in 2021.

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