Anurag Kashyap’s Kennedy: Rahul Bhat looks mysterious in the ‘police noir’ film’s first poster

Neo-noir and how! Anurag Kashyap has finally pulled the wraps off the first poster of his curious upcoming film, and we can’t help being nostalgic about Hindi cinema in the 1940s and 50s. Called Kennedy, the movie - starring Rahul Bhat and Sunny Leone - is all set to be showcased as part of the ‘Midnight Screenings’ at Festival De Cannes 2023, from May 16-27. 

The narrative follows an insomniac ex-cop (Rahul), who although is assumed to be dead, continues to operate for the corrupt system. A Zee Studios and Good Bad Films production, the first poster of Kennedy features the lead character’s intimidating look, while it also shows Sunny standing and screaming in front of a door. The poster is in tandem with the film’s intriguing police noir genre.

Sharing the poster on social media, Anurag wrote, “Aankh, Cannes sab khule rakhna…Kennedy aa raha hai! Here’s the official poster of #Kennedy, which is set to premiere at Festival De Cannes later next month!” His upcoming directorial is expected to give a new lease of life, after his recent releases - Dobaaraa and Almost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat - got a lukewarm response.

Also read: Anurag Kashyap’s Kennedy at Cannes 2023: The director drops first looks of lead actors Sunny Leone and Rahul Bhat 

But this isn’t the first time that an Anurag Kashyap film has made it to the coveted Cannes Film Festival. The much talked-about Gangs of Wasseypur was screened at the 2012 ‘Cannes Directors’ Fortnight’. In 2013, Ugly was screened under the same independent section of the festival. This was followed by Raman Raghav 2.0 that premiered at the festival in 2016. The anthology film Bombay Talkies, in which Anurag was one of the directors, featured under the ‘Special Screenings’ section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. 

Speaking about his experience of working in the film, Rahul - who has previously collaborated with Anurag in Ugly and Dobaaraa - told IANS, “Three years ago, my life fell apart and just when I felt I couldn’t plunge deeper into an abyss, there came along Anurag Kashyap who showed me facets of darkness that I didn’t even know existed within me. Kennedy is a character that both ripped me apart and stitched me back again.”