Daya Nayak: 5 films inspired by his life

There are several Bollywood cop films that have drawn inspiration from the life of a real-life encounter specialist, Daya Nayak, who is known for his fearless attitude and numerous encounters during his time with the Mumbai Police. For the unversed, on the eve of his retirement from the force, the Mumbai Police officer Daya Nayak was promoted to the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) on Tuesday.

His career was filled with action and danger, which later became a perfect template for gripping police dramas. Here are five Bollywood films that are inspired by Daya Nayak’s life and work.

5 Cop films inspired by story of Daya Nayak

1. Ab Tak Chhappan 

The 2004 film ‘Ab Tak Chhappan’ is a crime drama film that revolves around Inspector Sadhu Agashe (played by Nana Patekar) from the Mumbai Encounter Squad. He was known for having killed 56 people in police encounters. Directed by Shimit Amin, the film was inspired by the life of Mumbai Police officer Daya Nayak. Besides Nana Patekar, the film features Revathi, Yashpal Sharma, Nakul Vaid, Mohan Agashe, Hrishitaa Bhatt and others are in the lead roles. With an IMDb rating of 7.8, the film is available to stream on Prime Video and the SonyLIV platform. 

2. Risk 

Vishram Sawant’s directorial ‘Risk’, which was released in 2007, has references to Daya Nayak’s life. The film features Vinod Khanna, Randeep Hooda, Tanushree Dutta, Zakir Hussain and Yashpal Sharma in the lead roles. The crime drama thriller movie tells the story of underworld don Khalid, who rules Mumbai through bribery. 

3. Encounter Dayanayak

The action crime drama thriller film ‘Encounter Dayanayak’ revolves around the story of Mumbai Police officer Daya Nayak, who comes from a small village in Karnataka. The film stars Kaushal, Shekar Kotyan, Lakshman and Monalisa in the key roles. The Kannada-language film was directed by D Rajendra Babu and Bhaskarabatla Usha.

4. Aan: Men at Work

The 2004 film ‘Aan: Men at Work’ is based on a real-life Mumbai Police sub-inspector, Daya Nayak. In this film, Bollywood actor Suniel Shetty played the role of Sub-Inspector Appa Kadam Naik, which was inspired by Daya Nayak. Besides Suniel Shetty, the Madhur Bhandarkar’s directorial stars Akshay Kumar, Shatrughan Sinha, Paresh Rawal, Jackie Shroff, Irrfan Khan, Om Puri, Rahul Dev and others in the lead roles.

5. Department 

The 2012 film ‘Department’ is inspired by the life of Mumbai Police officer Daya Nayak. Directed by renowned filmmaker Ram Gopal Verma, the film features Sanjay Dutt, Rana Daggubati and Lakshmi Manchu in the lead roles. Those who haven’t watched this film yet can stream it on the OTT streaming platform Netflix.