Happy Patel: Khatarnak Jasoos (transl. Happy Patel: Dangerous Spy) is a 2026 Indian Hindi-language spy action comedy film directed by Vir Das and Kavi Shastri, written by Das and Amogh Ranadive, and produced by Aamir Khan, Aparna Purohit, Das and Shastri under Aamir Khan Productions, with Zazu Productions as a shadow banner. The film stars Das as the titular secret agent, with Mithila Palkar, Mona Singh, Sharib Hashmi and Srushti Tawade in pivotal roles. Featuring Aamir and Imran Khan in cameos, it also marks Imran's comeback roughly ten years after he last starred in Katti Batti (2015).
Contents
Plot
Happy Patel, the adopted son of two gay British secret agents, who aspired to follow his fathers' footsteps, and join the MI7 covert agency, but failed, soon learns that he is of Indian origin. He is assigned to Goa, on a mission, to rescue and retrieve a white woman who is being forced to work in a factory on developing a formula for a fairness cream by local Don Mama, who houses an inter-generational enmity with Happy, and is eager to settle scores.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack is composed by Vir Das, Parth Parekh, Ajay Jayanthi, Akshay, IP Singh, Shalom Benjamin, Manan Mehta, Achint Thakkar, Nirmit Shah, Kaizad Gherda, Sidd Coutto, Shalom Benjamin and Alien Chutney with lyrics written by Das, Mxrzi, Neeraj Pandey, Singh, Mehta, Suchita Shirke and Benjamin.
Release
Theatrical
Happy Patel: Khatarnak Jasoos was theatrically released on 16 January 2026.
Home media
The film is available to stream on Netflix from 1 April 2026.
Reception
The film received mixed reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 45% of 11 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5/10.
Deepa Gahlot of Rediff.com gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Happy Patel is not supposed to make sense, and doesn't even pretend to. But most of the time, it is trying too hard -- which ruins any comedy -- and the jokes fall flat. Still, the silliness is layered with such good cheer that it does get some laughs".
Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave 2/5 stars and said that "the film has too many ideas and jokes, tries to talk about everything at once, and as a result the comedy and emotions don’t land properly. A few performances and cameos are fun, but overall the movie feels messy and unfocused".
Rahul Desai of The Hollywood Reporter India observed that "The Vir Das-starring comedy about a bumbling NRI spy in Goa is unapologetically crazy, clumsy and contagious and It is a Sparkling Comedy With No Inhibitions".
Rishabh Suri of Hindustan Times rated 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Happy Patel must have sounded terrific on paper, largely because the film never intends to take itself seriously. Every character is given a quirk. The trouble is, it plays out like that friend in the group who is blissfully unaware of how half their jokes are unfunny. But one doesn't have the heart to tell them."
Sana Farzeen of India Today gave 3.5/5 stars and says that "the film successfully breaks the macho spy stereotype, is loud, absurd and self-aware, delivers genuine laughs, and works well if you don’t expect depth—just fun".
Radhika Sharma of NDTV gave 3/5 stars and states that "the film is silly, self-aware and chaotic fun—it doesn’t always make sense, but it delivers laughs, breaks the macho spy image, and is worth watching if you enjoy absurd humour".
Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in stated that "So silly that it’s juvenile and sometimes so anarchic that it almost escapes notice, the 121-minute Happy Patel takes refuge behind its conceit. This is a film about nothing pretending to be about something."