Star Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Radhika Apte, Shivani Raghuvanshi, Shweta Tripathi, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Aditya Srivastava, Nishant Dahiya
Director: Honey TrehanD
Despite of many attempt bollywood at whodunnit thrillers, this film holds its unique identity
It starts with showing an intentional accident of what seems to be a couple at the time, but then we know the guy is just the driver. Years later, Inspector Jatil Yadav (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) who is looking for a ‘decent charitrawan’ girl, gets assigned to the case of a politician’s death.
In his investigation, every family member is at Jatil’s radar for killing the head of their family for their gains. Every one of them has a motive, and Jatil inspects the same. Some dark truths about the family unfold in this investigation, and that’s what the film is about.
The whole death of the head of the family and investigation unveiling the dark sides of the members reminded me of Knives Out in a good way. Smita Singh masterfully manages each bit of complexity in her script. She holds your attention for a considerable amount of time. The film is a bit of stretch at 150 minutes and needed more strict editing by A. Sreekar Prasad.
Pankaj Kumar’s camera beautifully captures the narrow lanes and the musty interior of the palace. Loved the way how subtly they gave some Singham traits to Nawaz’s character. Despite so many characters, it’s the simplicity of the storytelling that doesn’t let you move much in the 150 minutes. Yes, there will be moments where you might check the duration left or just pause and scroll through your social media. But, it balances with the fantastic rest of the story.
This is a no-brainer Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Radhika Apte film. A fun fact, Sacred Games starting Nawaz and Radhika is also written by the writer of this film Smita Singh. While Nawazuddin Siddiqui does what he’s best at, Radhika Apte takes her skill-set to the next level. Nawaz’s way of expressing frustration comes in handy with the character of Jatil Yadav. Honey surely succeeds in subtly presenting Nawaz as the romantic hero through a brilliantly written sub-plot.
Shivani Raghuvanshi’s distinct diction put her on the spot at times. It was skillfully infused in her Made In Heaven character, but here she doesn’t get much time to develop that connection. Despite all of that, Shivani has been a performer to look out for, and she justifies all the hype.
Shweta Tripathi doesn’t have much to do apart from a meltdown scene in the finale which she does exceptionally well. It seems they hired Shweta just for that one scene because she’s one of those rarest actresses who wouldn’t mess that up. Tigmanshu Dhulia as SSP Lalji is decent at best. Aditya Srivastava’s performance is also very limited. His character should’ve had more wildness. Nishant Dahiya does well with the limited screen-space he gets.
If there were a quiz to guess the director of this film, I would’ve unquestionably chosen Anurag Kashyap. This is AK at every level. This is a countrified version of Knives Out. Not taking any credit from Honey Trehan for creating this untamed circus of a family’s internal politics. He smoothly manages to execute this complex set-up of way too many twists and turns.
Sneha Khanwalkar goes a bit over the board with the music. There were times when I didn’t want anything but a soothing piano or a violin but instead I get a complete orchestra. Sukhwinder’s Charkheya strikes every right chord.
Final thoughts-
All said and done, Raat Akeli Hai is one of the better whodunnit thrillers out there. Despite the dark undertone throughout, there aren’t really any dull moments. An intriguing watch
Filmanion rating- 7.3/10
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