Mumbai, India: At a time when questions around food safety, adulteration and hygiene are increasingly becoming part of everyday public conversation, The India Story brings a fictional yet deeply relevant story that explores what happens when what reaches our plates can have consequences far beyond what we imagine. Following its theatrical release, the hard-hitting social drama is set to premiere exclusively on JioHotstar on September 18, 2026.
Directed by Chettan DK and written by Sagar B Shinde, the film stars Shreyas Talpade and Kajal Aggarwal in pivotal roles, alongside Murli Sharma, Manish Wadhwa, Trisha Sarda and others.
At its heart, The India Story explores the human cost of food contamination and adulteration, and the devastating impact it can have on families and young lives. The story follows Major Yogesh Patil (Shreyas Talpade), a former Army officer whose world is shattered when his seven-year-old daughter, Pari (Trisha Sarda), dies under mysterious circumstances. What begins as a grieving father’s search for answers gradually leads him towards a disturbing reality surrounding contaminated food, pesticide misuse and systemic lapses in food safety.
As Yogesh begins to question what lies behind his daughter’s death, his personal search for truth takes him into a larger battle for accountability. Kajal Aggarwal plays the lawyer who takes up his case, as the story moves from one family’s devastating loss to a larger question that concerns every household: how safe is the food we consume, and who is responsible when that safety is compromised?
With food adulteration, hygiene and consumer safety increasingly finding themselves at the centre of public discourse, The India Story arrives at a moment when these questions feel particularly immediate. Without shying away from the uncomfortable realities surrounding the food we consume, the film uses one family’s fight for justice to shine a light on an issue that affects us all.
Reflecting on the film, Shreyas Talpade shared, “This project resonated deeply with me because, at its heart, it is about a parent’s worst fear of losing a child and not knowing why. What stayed with me was how something as everyday as the food we consume can have consequences that are unimaginable. The India Story asks some uncomfortable but important questions, and I feel stories like this deserve to be seen and discussed.”
Kajal Aggarwal added, “What makes The India Story relevant is that it takes an issue we often hear about and makes it deeply personal. We all make choices about what we eat and what we give our children, but we don’t always know what happens before that food reaches our plate”. The film is ultimately about one family’s fight for justice, but it also makes you pause and think about something that touches every one of us.
The India Story premieres exclusively on JioHotstar on September 18, 2026.
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