Kennedy OTT release: When and where to watch Anurag Kashyap's film starring Sunny Leone, Rahul Bhatt in India

Kennedy OTT release: Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap's film, Kennedy, will finally release in India after receiving critical acclaim at global film festivals. Kennedy stars Sunny Leone and Rahul Bhatt. The film was screened at the Cannes Film Festival three years ago. Despite receiving a green signal from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), the film was not released in theatres for the last three years due to reasons unknown.

Kashyap's film, Kennedy, will now mark its debut on OTT directly.

Kennedy OTT release

Kennedy will be released on Zee5. According to a report by Times of India, the film will be streaming online, starting from 20 February 2026. Anurag Kashyap confirmed the release.

On Saturday, Anurag Kashyap took to his Instagram account and shared the teaser of Kennedy. Announce the film release, the filmmaker wrote on his account, “Finally, our labour of love, angst and everything in between—Kennedy—is coming home after travelling the world on @zee5. All I can say is that I am grateful for having been able to make this film, for my team, my producers, my studio, and at the end of the day—jab jab jo jo hona hai, tab tab so so hota hai (everything happens in its own time).”

Kennedy is a neo-noir crime thriller. Starring Sunny Leone and Rahul Bhatt in the lead, the film follows the story of an insomniac ex police officer who is presumed dead. In reality, he continues to operate within a corrupt system while secretly seeking redemption.

Watch teaser here:

The film is presented by Zee Studios and produced by Good Bad Films. Apart from Rahul Bhat and Sunny Leone in lead, it also has Mohit Takalkar, Abhilash Thapliyal and Megha Burman in key roles.

Talking about why Kennedy wasn't released in India, Anurag Kashyap had said that he had detached himself from the film in particular as many of his projects were stuck.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, Kashyap said, “I have made five films that are lying unreleased. Where is Kennedy? And whose hands is Kennedy in? It’s in the hands of some people who’ve never made films before. People who made Kennedy in the studio are all gone. And now, the people who are there, the directive given to them is to up the share prices, generate profits, cost recovery… That’s all there is. Nobody is interested in films. It doesn’t matter if Kennedy went to Cannes; it doesn’t matter if it had such a massive reception at festivals. Forget outside India, they’ve seen the reception in India, but where is the film?”

Kashyap added, “They don’t understand anything. They can’t even make a Pushpa. They cannot, because they don’t have the brains to make a film. They don’t understand what filmmaking is. Pushpa can only be made by Sukumar. In the South, they invest in filmmakers and empower them to make films. Here, everyone is trying to create a universe. Do they understand their own universe, and how miniscule they are in it? That’s the ego. When you create a universe, you think you’re God.”

The filmmaker said that he has detach himself from unreleased films, including Kennedy. “I’ve detached myself from Kennedy, because I don’t want it to become like Black Friday. I will not let anything pull me down again in life," said Anurag Kashyap, adding "I feel disappointed, but that’s how it is. I’m very disgusted by some people, but let them be. I’ve had my fights, but you can’t fight a wall. I don’t have the energy…”

Kennedy at international film festivals

Besides Cannes, Kennedy has been premiered at several other international film festivals, such as the Sydney Film Festival, Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (South Korea), Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (Switzerland), the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, and the London Indian Film Festival, among others.