# Trapped (2016 Hindi film)
**Trapped** (ट्रैप्ड) is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language survival thriller directed by [Vikramaditya Motwane](https://www.edgepedia.org/vikramaditya-motwane), in which a call center employee named Shaurya accidentally locks himself inside his new apartment in an otherwise uninhabited Mumbai high-rise and must survive without food, water, or electricity.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6206564) • [2](https://www.zee5.com/movies/details/trapped/0-0-8201) [Rajkummar Rao](https://www.edgepedia.org/rajkummar-rao) plays Shaurya and [Geetanjali Thapa](https://www.edgepedia.org/geetanjali-thapa) plays Noorie, his girlfriend.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6206564)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writers | Vikramaditya Motwane; story and screenplay by Amit Joshi and Hardik Mehta[3](https://mami.mumbaifilmfestival.com/media/1276/mami_festival_catalogue-2016.pdf) |
| Cast | Rajkummar Rao as Shaurya; Geetanjali Thapa as Noorie[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6206564) |
| Production | Phantom Films, with producers Vikas Bahl, Anurag Kashyap, and Madhu Mantena[3](https://mami.mumbaifilmfestival.com/media/1276/mami_festival_catalogue-2016.pdf) • [4](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/trapped-2/cast/) |
| Premiere | World premiere at the Mumbai Film Festival, October 26, 2016[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6206564/releaseinfo/) |
| Theatrical release | United Arab Emirates and Kuwait March 16, 2017; India March 17, 2017[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6206564/releaseinfo/) |
| Runtime | 105 minutes per the festival catalog; Box Office India lists 102 minutes[3](https://mami.mumbaifilmfestival.com/media/1276/mami_festival_catalogue-2016.pdf) • [6](https://boxofficeindia.com/cast_crew.php?movieid=3484) |
| Reception | IMDb 7.5/10 from about 15,000 votes; Rotten Tomatoes 86% from 14 reviews[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6206564/ratings/) • [8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/trapped_2017) |
## Spoilers
### Premise
Shaurya, a call center employee, plans to marry his girlfriend Noorie and rents an apartment from a broker in a deserted high-rise. One day he unintentionally locks himself inside the flat, which has no food, water, or electricity, and the film chronicles his struggle to survive and escape.[2](https://www.zee5.com/movies/details/trapped/0-0-8201) • [3](https://mami.mumbaifilmfestival.com/media/1276/mami_festival_catalogue-2016.pdf) The setting makes the city itself part of the danger: the Mumbai skyline around the empty tower keeps Shaurya painfully aware of his isolation.[9](https://wogma.com/movie/trapped-teho/)
### Interpretation
A 2026 academic paper in the International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews reads the film through eco-criticism (academic lens reading texts through environmental values) and resilience theory, arguing that it moves beyond a simple urban survival story toward rediscovering ecological values through hardship.[16](https://ijrpr.com/uploads/V7ISSUE4/IJRPR63132.pdf)
## Production
The idea came from writer Amit Joshi, who sent Motwane a synopsis early in 2015 and delivered a screenplay within a month. From the email to the start of shooting took four to five months, a schedule Motwane described as very fast; he had a crew in place from a shelved project and needed only to find the right location.[10](https://www.telegraphindia.com/entertainment/what-director-vikramaditya-motwane-didn-rsquo-t-enjoy-about-making-trapped-the-rat/cid/1426634) • [11](https://businessofcinema.com/bollywood_news/interview-vikramaditya-motwane-trapped-censor-board-amitabh-bachchan)
**A stripped-down shoot.** The film was shot in twenty days, with mostly one character inside a room, a marked change from Motwane's earlier films, the coming-of-age drama *[Udaan](https://www.edgepedia.org/udaan-2010-film)* (2010) and the period romance *Lootera* (2013).[12](https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/celebrities/story/trapped-vikramaditya-motwane-rajkummar-rao-interview-dangal-965932-2017-03-16) It was shot in a linear manner to highlight the realism of the plot.[13](https://d1f72a6kha0tf8.cloudfront.net/trapped) Motwane said Rajkummar Rao was his only choice for the role, citing his vulnerability and lack of a conventional hero persona; Rao put himself on a special diet for the part, an idea of his own.[10](https://www.telegraphindia.com/entertainment/what-director-vikramaditya-motwane-didn-rsquo-t-enjoy-about-making-trapped-the-rat/cid/1426634) • [11](https://businessofcinema.com/bollywood_news/interview-vikramaditya-motwane-trapped-censor-board-amitabh-bachchan)
The crew included cinematographer Siddharth Diwan, editor Nitin Baid, production designer Kazvin Dangor, and composer Alokananda Dasgupta, whose songs carry lyrics by Rajeshwari Dasgupta and were released on Zee Music.[4](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/trapped-2/cast/) • [13](https://d1f72a6kha0tf8.cloudfront.net/trapped)
## Release
*Trapped* had its world premiere at the Mumbai Film Festival on October 26, 2016, where it received a standing ovation.[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6206564/releaseinfo/) • [11](https://businessofcinema.com/bollywood_news/interview-vikramaditya-motwane-trapped-censor-board-amitabh-bachchan) It opened theatrically in the [United Arab Emirates](https://www.edgepedia.org/united-arab-emirates) and Kuwait on March 16, 2017, and in India on March 17, 2017, and later screened at the Neuchatel International Fantastic Film Festival in Switzerland on July 3, 2017.[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6206564/releaseinfo/) It is certified U/A in India and streams on ZEE5.[4](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/trapped-2/cast/) • [14](https://www.justwatch.com/in/movie/trapped)
## Reception
The film holds an 86% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes from 14 reviews, with an 85% audience score from more than 50 ratings.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/trapped_2017) On IMDb it rates 7.5/10 from about 15,000 votes, with an unweighted mean of 7.7.[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6206564/ratings/)
**Critical response.** Reviewers singled out Rao's performance. Saibal Chatterjee on NDTV called him dazzlingly outstanding in what was effectively a solo performance, and Mayank Shekhar of Mid-Day gave four stars, saying the film held attention with an underwhelming setting.[15](https://www.indicine.com/movies/bollywood/trapped-reviews-critics/) Anupama Chopra of Film Companion rated it 3.5/5, calling it a tight-wire act that would collapse without Rao, while Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave 2.5/5, writing that the film did not go as far over the edge as it could have.[8](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/trapped_2017) Manjusha Radhakrishnan of Gulf News highlighted a scene in which Shaurya considers drinking from the toilet bowl as marking his degraded existence.[15](https://www.indicine.com/movies/bollywood/trapped-reviews-critics/) On the aggregate site Wogma, 30 external reviewers split 21 positive, 6 mixed, and 3 negative.[9](https://wogma.com/movie/trapped-teho/)
Indicine reported poor opening-day occupancy at the Indian box office, but noted that low production costs gave the film room to grow over the weekend.[15](https://www.indicine.com/movies/bollywood/trapped-reviews-critics/)
## References
1. [Trapped (2016), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6206564)
2. [Watch Trapped on ZEE5](https://www.zee5.com/movies/details/trapped/0-0-8201)
3. [Mumbai Film Festival 2016 Catalogue, Trapped spotlight page](https://mami.mumbaifilmfestival.com/media/1276/mami_festival_catalogue-2016.pdf)
4. [Trapped Cast & Crew, Bollywood Hungama](https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/trapped-2/cast/)
5. [Trapped (2016) Release info, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6206564/releaseinfo/)
6. [Trapped, Box Office India](https://boxofficeindia.com/cast_crew.php?movieid=3484)
7. [Trapped (2016) Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6206564/ratings/)
8. [Trapped (2017), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/trapped_2017)
9. [Trapped External Reviews, Wogma](https://wogma.com/movie/trapped-teho/)
10. [What director Vikramaditya Motwane didn't enjoy about making Trapped? The rat!, Telegraph India](https://www.telegraphindia.com/entertainment/what-director-vikramaditya-motwane-didn-rsquo-t-enjoy-about-making-trapped-the-rat/cid/1426634)
11. [Interview: Vikramaditya Motwane On Trapped, Censor Board, Amitabh Bachchan And More!, Business of Cinema](https://businessofcinema.com/bollywood_news/interview-vikramaditya-motwane-trapped-censor-board-amitabh-bachchan)
12. [Trapped director Vikramaditya Motwane interview, India Today](https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/celebrities/story/trapped-vikramaditya-motwane-rajkummar-rao-interview-dangal-965932-2017-03-16)
13. [Trapped on Moviebuff.com](https://d1f72a6kha0tf8.cloudfront.net/trapped)
14. [Trapped streaming, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/in/movie/trapped)
15. [Trapped Reviews by Critics, Indicine](https://www.indicine.com/movies/bollywood/trapped-reviews-critics/)
16. [Eco-Centrism and Human Resilience in Trapped, IJRPR (2026)](https://ijrpr.com/uploads/V7ISSUE4/IJRPR63132.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Indian films (individual works) › Hindi films of the 2010s › Hindi films of 2016*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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