Netflix‘s 2026 slate of Indian productions has hit a major regulatory roadblock. On Friday, the streamer pulled all promotional material for Manoj Bajpayee’s latest film Ghooskhor Pandat after the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting stepped in with a directive. This is the latest development in an increasingly contentious situation, which has seen a legal complaint lodged in Lucknow at the behest of the Uttar Pradesh government and a very public dispute with Film Makers Combine over the film’s title.
This dust-up started over the title of Neeraj Pandey’s upcoming crime drama – a fictional story about a man’s journey to make amends – but the way the words “Pandat” and “Ghooskhor” were combined ended up riling a number of social and political groups. Meanwhile, Film Makers Combine wrote to Friday Storytellers, accusing the title of never actually having been officially cleared or authorized.
Friday afternoon, Neeraj Pandey and Manoj Bajpayee jointly issued a clarification of sorts – a message to make it clear that the word “Pandat” was just some colloquialism used to describe the character & not some kind of pointed attack on a community. “When something you’re closely associated with hurts others, it makes you take a step back and listen,” Bajpayee helpfully explains – part of the reason Netflix decided to pull the teaser trailer was to give people a chance to see the story in context before making up their minds.
For Netflix, this reversal shows just how much the very landscape of the Indian online scene has changed in 2026 – a far more delicate place than it was even a couple of years ago. Although the streamer has dealt with its fair share of backlash before (remember IC 814 and Annapoorani?), the MIB’s fast move suggests a zero-tolerance policy – at least when it comes to titles that could be seen as provocative. Right now, the film – which also features Nushrratt Bharuccha and Saqib Saleem – is pretty much stuck in limbo until the production team decides whether they should change the title or try to find a way to get around the MIB’s directive.
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