Nag Ashwin Compares Mrunal Thakur to Madhubala & Smita Patil During Dacoit Success Event

Mrunal Thakur is enjoying strong box-office buzz for Dacoit, and the film’s success event brought a standout moment. Filmmaker Nag Ashwin publicly praised both the movie and Mrunal Thakur, comparing the performance to legends Madhubala and Smita Patil.

Ashwin praised the film in his speech and added, "Mrunal, I think you are amazing. I am generally very protective of the stuff that you pick. Whenever you do something that's not great, I am like why is she doing that? She deserves to do much better stuff. And whenever there's a character that has that depth or sorrow or pain, I think you are like that era of Madhubala and Smita Patil, there are not many people like this. So please don't do random stuff and do good stuff."

Mrunal Thakur Dacoit success event and emotional reaction

The compliment appeared to move Mrunal Thakur deeply during the Dacoit celebration. Mrunal Thakur bowed in response to Nag Ashwin’s words and expressed quiet thanks on stage. The exchange highlighted the trust Nag Ashwin places in Mrunal Thakur’s script choices and emotional range.

Mrunal Thakur Dacoit film details and cast

Dacoit is an action romantic drama, directed by Shaneil Deo in a first feature. Supriya Yarlagadda produces the project under Annapurna Studios. The film features Adivi Sesh, Mrunal Thakur and Anurag Kashyap in lead roles, with Prakash Raj, Sunil, Zayn Marie Khan and Atul Kulkarni in key supporting parts.

Dacoit reached cinemas on 10 April and has been drawing strong audience attention since release. The positive response at the success event, along with Nag Ashwin’s comparison to Madhubala and Smita Patil, underlines the impact of Mrunal Thakur’s performance in the film.