‘Raat Akeli Hai’ Movie Review: Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s finesse and Honey Trehan’s twists makes this detective murder mystery a viewer’s delight

Directed By
Honey Trehan

Produced By
Abhishek Chaubey, Ronnie Screwvala

Cast
Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Radhika Apte, Shweta Tripathi, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Shivani Raghuvanshi, Aditya Srivastava, Nishant Dahiya, Padmavati Rao, Ila Arun, Swanand Kirkire, Shree Dhar Dubey, Khalid Tyabji

Bollywood Bubble RatingWhat’s It About
A small-town cop is called in to investigate a high profile murder of a politically powerful personality. While the murder happens on his wedding night with almost as many as 10 suspects, it’s up to the cop to find out the truth behind it. While doing so stumbling upon a case from 5 years back which had its deep-rooted influence in the present case. Will he be able to bring forth his a-game of being a mastermind detective? Will he be able to find out the real killer? Will he be able to bring justice to all involved members? Well, you’ll have to watch the film to find it out.

What’s Hot
Honey Trehan’s direction is gripping, to say the least. There are very few films where, as a reviewer, you’re able to talk of the director before you talk about the cast of the film. This is one such film. Honey Trehan’s direction will keep you hooked onto the very climax and give you an orgasmic twist to the whole murder mystery.

The writing by Smita Singh is also very taut and makes sure you, as an audience, are not let off the hook for even a bit. The twists and turns in the story will make you think where is this headed, but when the climax opens up, all of it falls into place, and you are left with a sense of joy.

Talking of the acting Nawazuddin as a Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot style detective carries the film on his shoulders with his nuanced acting. The short-heighted police officer who’s not afraid to take on people twice his size, but still is mighty afraid of his mom’s taunts, is a perfect mixture of how vast the characterisation is. Nawazuddin portrays the character to the best.

Radhika Apte may have lesser screen space than Nawazuddin, but she makes sure she gets one of the meatiest characters. The varied layers in her portrayal of a middle-aged woman who has been going through the travails of dealing with a patriarchal society has been brought out beautifully by Radhika Apte.

Nishant Dahiya is growing with every character he portrays. He will keep you confused till the end as to whether or not he has actually done the murder or is he just posing as if he has done the murder. The mysterious facade in his looks and the way he brings the character out if just simply awesome.

The music by Sneha Khanwalkar was hauntingly good and set the milieu for the performances.

Talking of the milieu of Kanpur and the heartlands of Uttar Pradesh, where the movie is set, it has been brought out to perfection by some talented cinematography by Pankaj Kumar.

What’s Not
Well, there many popular names in the film apart from Radhika and Nawazuddin, and it seems like they just came in to help out a dear friend by giving extended cameos. Stellar names like Aditya Shrivastava, Swanand Kirkire, Shweta Tripathi, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Ila Arun have been given roles much lesser than their worth, which is slightly sad. But, considering it’s a murder mystery and it was the demand of the script, I think I can overlook it.

I am slightly disappointed by the editing by A. Sreekar Prasad which could have been a little crisper and made the movie maybe 5-7 minutes shorter.

Verdict
I am not sure why in Bollywood we make murder mysteries so less. It’s one genre, which if made well, can give you one of the best movie-viewing experiences. Honey Trehan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui make this one a MUST WATCH. I am going with 3.5 stars.

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Also Read: ‘Yaara’ Movie Review: Tigmanshu Dhulia’s period gangster drama on friendship, guilt and redemption lacks the punch

Prateek Sur

Born a Movie Buff, working as a Film Critique and enjoying life as a Bollywood Reporter.

Email: editor@bollywoodbubble.com Phone: +91 8355910465