Raat Akeli Hai Review: Not Your Traditional Whodunit Thriller!

Commencing Netflix’s slate of direct-to-OTT releases, Raat Akeli Hai, the new Bollywood Original is a whodunit mystery thriller, directed by Honey Trehan and stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Radhika Apte in the lead roles. Now, narrating a murder mystery is no easy task. It requires you to write a story that not only keeps the viewer engaging but also, at the same time making sure that it does not follow the same conventional template we’ve watched a million other films do. Raat Akeli Hai Review

So, my expectations for this movie were mixed, and I did not know what to expect. However, to my surprise, Raat Akeli Hai did not just try to be an intellectual mystery-thriller, but it succeeded in incorporating a variety of other social elements that complimented the storyline masterfully. Raat Akeli Hai Review

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Set in the rural regions of Uttar Pradesh, the storyline of Raat Akeli Hai begins with the murder of a wealthy man inside his bungalow and, most importantly, on his second wedding day. Subsequently, Head Inspector, Jatil Yadav, arrives at the scene and suspects that the crime is much more elaborate despite the traditional allegations on a few family members. As things begin to advance, the remainder of the film details when, why, and who committed the murder. Raat Akeli Hai Review

Like I noted earlier, the most intriguing part, at least for me, in Raat Akeli Hai was not just the narrative surrounding the murder, but the numerous tiers it introduces along the way. Writer Smita Singh made sure that her film is not overlooked or labeled as another run-of-the-mill detective story and further explored and depicted the atrocities that happen in the countryside of India authentically. Raat Akeli Hai Review

The comprehensive selection of social topics primarily includes misogyny, disrespect, and racism. The movie displays the concepts of men being more superior than women, the general chauvinism towards prostitutes, and the way they are treated and seen in the public. Raat Akeli Hai Review

Parents and family members overpowering and manipulating the freedom of their kids, the unbridled love for fairer skin, and a myriad of other issues that do not belong in the modern era we live in today. Smita Singh also elaborated that these problems exist all across the board regardless of education, stature and wealth.

As far as the screenplay goes, the movie stalls quite a few times, and despite maintaining the intrigue decently from start to finish, the two-hour-twelve-minute runtime should have been reduced in the cutting room floor to somewhere under two hours. Furthermore, back on the brighter side, the characters, especially the main leads, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Radhika Apte, were written exceptionally well.

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And the reason being, while critiquing a film, I always take the character arc and their transformation into consideration, because a writer always ensures that his/her character always change or grow during the course of the narrative to tell an effective story. Subsequently, the unique love-hate relationship between Nawaz and Radhika and how they are able to change by the very end was elaborated remarkably in all directions.

With a stellar cast, the performances in Raat Akeli Hai are amazing from top to bottom. Nawazuddin Siddiqui, contrary to his previous outing in the utterly disastrous movie, Ghoomketu, is offered a meaty role and shared screentime in almost every single frame. He flawlessly suited in his role as the overly confident, brash-yet-sensitive cop who is skilled at his job but suffers at finding a girl to get married.

Radhika Apte, on the other hand, plays an honest, no-nonsense woman who is manipulated and used far too often in life, and abandons all her feelings or does not portray her true emotions to the fullest. Her performance in the whole film is consistent as she, as an actor, rarely gives a bad performance.

The remainder of the cast did their job well, and the big ensemble added more intrigue as I kept making guesses about who is the real culprit. Karan Kulkarni’s impressive background score and Sneha Khanwalkar’s song composition blended in with the film impeccably and did not take away much from the tension the movie tried to build.

Art Directors, Madhumita Sen, and Rajesh Choudhary ensured that the movie also communicated aesthetically with production design, the royal antique decor, and the rustic look of the city. The exteriors and the interiors, the three-story mansion where the murder takes place, and everything else supplemented to the vibe Trehan tried to achieve, and for the most part, it worked.

Overall, Raat Akeli Hai on Netflix astonishes and goes beyond your regular whodunit thriller. It explores the wide variety of concerns we still face on a day-to-day basis and combines them in immaculately with the on-going narrative. The top-notch performances and the captivating storyline make us neglect the drawbacks, the film when it comes to the screenplay, and the runtime. For the first time in a very long time, Netflix India seems to rekindle its past glory by producing and distributing good films like Bulbbul, Axone, and more. Watch ‘Raat Akeli Hai’ on Netflix here.

Rating – 3.5/5 | Grade – B+

Images via Netflix

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