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Join UsStar Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Chitrangada Singh, Radhika Apte, Revathi, Deepti Naval, and others
Director: Honey Trehan
What’s Good: The plotline that does not stick to being a whodunit and explores why and how!
What’s Bad: Nothing to be specific!
Loo Break: Your call!
Watch or Not?: Definitely Yes!
Language: Hindi
Available On: Netflix
Runtime: 2 hour 14 minutes
User Rating:
In an era when OTT has expanded the content pool for the audience who can watch anything from Hitchcock to Nolan, it is very difficult to grab their attention through a good whodunit! But RSVP and Netflix have struck gold with Raat Akeli Hai 2. Another instalment of the franchise with Nawazuddin Siddiqui, returning as Inspector Jatil Yadav, trying to solve a murder mystery with too many suspects, and Dipti Naval and Chitrangada Singh being the prime suspects of this murder mystery!
This instalment of the franchise reclaims the throne for Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who should be crowned as the king of murder mysteries! The film is politically explosive, sharp, and darker than the previous part of the franchise! The premise of the film is very sharp and gets interesting with each and every turn!
Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Movie Review: Script Analysis
The film opens with a gothic shot of many crows dying in a huge mansion – a mansion owned by the Bansals, Bansals who get killed that very night! Inspector Jatil Yadav is given the charge to investigate the murder mystery of this family that owns the biggest publication house in the media! While the crime scene is told to be an easy open and shut case, putting the blame of the murders on a drug addict in the family, Jatil Yadav refuses to believe so! His wisdom and experience say, it is more than what meets the eye!
If the 2020 OG was a tribute to any Agatha Christie mysteries we have grown up reading, the sequel is a beast that bites. Trehan basically takes the DNA of the first part and injects it with a shot of politically charged motive, making the second part more real and believable, as it has happened in your periphery. I am no longer interested in the whodunit; I am invested in why and how. I want to dig the modus operandi deeper and dive in the layers of the truth – the truth that is buried under layers of power, patriarchy, and cold-blooded greed.
Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Movie Review: Star Performance
Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Jatil Yadav brings a new layer of empathy to Jatil Yadav. His moral compass is still unshakeable. He never lets this dense murder mystery drift away. Meanwhile, Chitrangada Singh is a revelation. She brings a haunting quality to the screen. As a key figure in the Bansal household, she balances the emotional vulnerability with a sharp act! Her chemistry with Nawaz is crackling, and the tension adds a layer of drama!
The Intense Wildcard, however, is Revathi, who nails the investigative support to Jatil Yadav. Her animated officer, trying to figure out what and how of this murder mystery, is a winner! Radhika Apte is back as the emotional support of this intense drama, and it is a stroke of genius.
Deepti Naval as the Chilling Matriarch is understated. She could have outgrown them all, but the narrative restricts her growth.
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Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Movie Review: Direction, Music
Honey Trehan builds this whodunit very intricately through Jatil Yadav and his investigative partner, Revathi, as Dr. Panicker, the Forensic specialist. Usually, murder mysteries after a certain point give in, and you know who has done it, and you are only interested in knowing how they will solve it and reach the final point! But Honey Trehan makes sure that you are as restless as Nawazuddin Siddiqui‘s Jatil Yadav is. He is frantically looking for cues to reach the culprit, and so are you, along with him. You cannot outsmart Jatil Yadav’s intelligence. Trehan makes sure you do not find any loopholes in his script that let you peek through the murderer! Kudos to him for keeping the script so tight for a long stretch of 2.15 hours!
In filmmaking, it is very rare that we outsmart the first part of a franchise, but Raat Akeli Hai 2 is better than the first part, mainly because the first film only operated on a whodunit, but The Bansal Murders evolves and dives into the whydunit. It turns superior since the stakes are no longer domestic. It links a family murder to the corridors of power, making every discovery feel like an urgent problem that needs a solution!
The script of Raat Akeli Hai 2 is the biggest win here, and the intense background music elevates the entire film. I never heard what slitting a throat sounded like. It is so precise, the flowing of blood is so accurate that it makes me restless and pukish at times! But still, I just cannot ignore it!
Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Movie Review: The Last Word
The film handles themes of power within elite families with remarkable subtlety. Still, it never becomes a preachy movie. I remember a verse that said, “Mat kaho aakash mein kuhra ghana hai, yeh kisi ki vyaktigat aalochna hai. Surya humne bhi nahi dekha subah se, kya karoge, surya ka kya dekhna hai!” The film sets a tense mode for a murder mystery that turns into a political thriller! A crime drama that sets a new benchmark since it is emotionally moving.
A scene, very crucial one, says, “Unke dekhat hamari basti mein jeher phailo aur madad ke naam pe unhone ka chhaapa maloom? Ki humne maara hamara bachcha, kaahe ki hum gandi naali ka keeda hai, apne bachchon ko wahi pani pilaate hain, kachra jalate hain, pradooshan phailaate hain. Hum kya naagrik nahi hain? Gareeb ke sir pe chhat naa ho, peene ke liye saaf paani naa ho to kyaa hum ghatiya insaan ho gaye? Unse laakh guna acche hain! Apne bachchon ke kafan tak ka tax bharte hain hum!”
That hits hard. So does this murder mystery! Do not miss this one!
4 stars.
Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Trailer
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