Movie: Raat Akeli Hai (Hindi)
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Radhika Apte, Shweta Tripathi, Shivani Raghuvanshi, Aditya Srivastava, Nishant Dahiya, Ila Arun
Rating: 3/5
The movie starts with the murder of a wealthy old man on the night of his second wedding and there is a house full of suspects. Inspector Jatil Yadav (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) is made in charge of the investigation of this case. He is introduced to us as an honest cop who wants to marry a good-looking girl with good values and character.
Jatil is excited to be given the opportunity to investigate a high-profile murder case of rich aristocrat Raghuveer Singh. Jatil visits the murder site and here he is introduced to the extended family of Raghuveer Singh and the circumstances of the murder forces Jatil to suspect every member of the family. The plot build-up is very similar to the recent English movie - 'Knives Out'. The director wonderfully creates the premise of the movie and engages the viewer in the murder mystery. The lack of proper police training is highlighted when the assistant police of Jatil reveal that they have forensic kits that the police are not trained to work with. In the course of the investigation, Jatil connects with Radha (the second wife of Raghuveer Singh) and he soon realizes that a thread from the past connects both of them. Radha represents the numerous repressed girls in India who are exploited physically and sexually by the society. Jatil slowly feels responsible to act as the savior for Radha and save her from the nexus of this powerful and complicated family. He also starts falling in love with Radha who didn’t match his ideal girl expectation, highlighting people’s hypocrisy.
The movie tries to delve into every character's alibi and motive to kill Raghuveer Singh. But the story fails to explore the depth of each character. The development of the characters is not enough and thus some of them remain peripheral and not important to the plotline. This seemed like a big missed opportunity which could have created a more gripping murder mystery.
As the investigation progresses, the angle of political nexus is revealed through the character of MLA Munna Raja who is shown to have close relations with Raghuveer Singh. Meanwhile, Jatil tries to connect the dots from the past which seem to be connected with the murder. As the movie proceeds towards the climax, the story gets too entangled and ends up as an undercooked murder mystery. Even the love story between Radha and Jatil feels over imposed. The climax was a complete letdown and seemed like a scene out of some Hindi Serial (the Ekta Kapoor serial types).
The director (Honey Trehan) builds up the movie perfectly with a very tense start which promises a gritty thriller. He shoots the movie in a darkish tint to create suspense and foreshadowing its dark themes. However, some scenes of the movie are treated in an amateurish way that lets down all the hard work.
The screenplay by Smita Singh is the biggest let down for the movie. The story tries to explore too many avenues instead of focusing on one. It starts as a murder mystery and then deviates to a typical good cop bad politician slugfest and also adds some more elements like an unconventional romantic story, the dark underbelly of the powerful people, and how women are exploited by our society. The screenplay could have kept its focus on the murder mystery and then subtly foreshadowed the dark themes which are intended to present.
The cinematographer Pankaj Kumar is at the top of the game. In the first scene itself, he beautifully captures the scene in the dark with only the source of lights which are part of the scene. Throughout the movie, his shots give a dark and mysterious feel to the movie and really adds an extra dimension.
The main actors Nawazuddin and Radhika Apte are effortless and effective and bring life to the characters of Jatil Yadav and Radha. Shweta Tripathi and Aditya Srivastava are completely underutilized since their characters are not developed well. Shivani Raghuvanshi and Nishant Dahiya are disappointing as Vasudha and Vikram Singh. Special mention for Riya Shukla who gives a very powerful performance as Chunni. The remaining supporting cast is mediocre and doesn’t add much to the film.
Raat Akeli Hai could have been a great thriller with a dark theme but instead, it gets entangled in a web of varied ideas and leaves you utterly disappointed.
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