Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Review {2.5/5} & Review Rating
Star Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Chitrangda Singh, Revathy
Director: Honey Trehan
Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Movie Review Synopsis:
RAAT AKELI HAI: THE BANSAL MURDERS is a whodunit. Two miscreants throw the blood-soaked head of a pig in the sprawling farmhouse of the Bansals. Inspector Jatil Yadav (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) is sent to investigate the case. Jatil also finds several dead birds at the crime site. He meets the members of the Bansal family - Meera Bansal (Chitrangda Singh), Mahinder Bansal (S M Zaheer), Prashant Bansal (Mohit Chauhan), Vivek Bansal (Harshh A Singh), Seema Bansal (Leena Sharma), Madhav Bansal (Chirag Bajaj), Aarav (Delzad Hiwale), and the young kids, Rihan (Pratyaksh Vardhak Singh) and Aastha (Aarushi Bajaj). Jatil realizes that everyone in the family are devout followers of Geeta Ma (Deepti Naval). Mahinder alleges that the estranged family member, Rajesh Chand Bansal (Sanjay Kapoor), is responsible for the 'bloody' mischief. However, Rajesh feigns ignorance. As Jatil is trying to solve the case, he gets a big jolt - most members of the Bansal family are killed together one night. Only Meera, Rihan and Aastha survive. The cops grapple to understand what happened at night and all fingers point at Aarav, a drug addict who's infamous for losing his temper. What happens next forms the rest of the film.
Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Movie Story Review:
Smita Singh's story has all the trappings of a great murder mystery. Smita Singh's screenplay is engaging but also has certain loose ends. Smita Singh's dialogues are dramatic as well as humourous.
Honey Trehan's direction ensures one is glued to the goings-on. One expects the murder to take place at the very beginning. Instead, the opening scene is unexpected. The murder happens sometime later and the whole sequence leaves an impact. We have seen murder mysteries where usually one murder takes place at a time. Here, most of the family members are eliminated together. This is what helps RAAT AKELI HAI: THE BANSAL MURDERS stand out. The investigation procedure and especially the track of Dr Panicker (Revathy) adds to the madness. The suspense is very unpredictable and most moviegoers would not be able to guess it.
On the flipside, the director doesn’t depict everyone from the Bansal family in the beginning. Hence, viewers will be startled to know, during the murder track, that so many people existed in the family. Only the murder angle is effective; the problems faced by the Bansals don’t leave any impact. Except for Rajesh Chand Bansal, the issues going on inside the family just don’t leave an impact. The same goes for Jatil’s family track. It's sweet but also seems forced. What also goes against the film is that the first part, RAAT AKELI HAI [2020], doesn’t have a strong recall value. But Jatil’s family track is depicted as if viewers already have a bond with them, but sadly, that’s not the case. Lastly, though the suspense is unpredictable, it is also quite hurried. There’s a crucial school angle and makers should have invested more time in depicting it properly. It's also very convenient that Jatil was able to find a crucial file, albeit burnt, in the school premises.
Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Movie Review Performances:
Nawazuddin Siddiqui is in his element as always. He keeps his performance restrained and that helps. Chitrangda Singh has an arresting screen presence and adds to the mystery and intrigue with her act. Deepti Naval has a superb look and performance-wise, she’s first-rate. Sadly, she’s massively let down by the writing. The makers could have done so much with this character. Revathy leaves a much bigger impact as her role is very well fleshed out, while her performance is praiseworthy. Rajat Kapoor (DGP Sameer Verma) is dependable, as expected. Delzad Hiwale leaves a huge mark in a small role. Priyanka Setia (Nisha) makes her presence felt, while Ila Arun Bajpai (Sarita Kumari) is adorable. Akhilendra Mishra (S P Chauhan; cop), Rahaao Bali (Om Prakash; guard) and Nehpal Gautam (Umesh Yadav; guard) lend able support. Pratyaksh Vardhak Singh and Aarushi Bajaj are decent. As for the actors playing Bansals, S M Zaheer, Mohit Chauhan, Harshh A Singh, Leena Sharma and Chirag Bajaj are decent and are hardly there. The same applies to Suhaas Ahuja (Dr Amit Khanna; Meera's husband). Radhika Apte (Radha) has a special appearance and she’s lovely as always. Sanjay Kapoor is fine in a cameo.
Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders movie music and other technical aspects:
RAAT AKELI HAI: THE BANSAL MURDERS is a song-less film. Karan Kulkarni's background score enhances the mood and eeriness. Sirsha Ray's cinematography is satisfactory. Rohit Chaturvedi's costumes are straight out of life, while Tiya Tejpal and Raveena Singh's production design is authentic. The Bansals’ farmhouse, especially, is regal. Allan Amin's action is bloody but not too gory. Tanya Chhabria's editing is overall fine, but it is too fast-paced in the last 30 minutes.
Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Movie Review Conclusion:
On the whole, RAAT AKELI HAI: THE BANSAL MURDERS works in parts, mainly because the climax is unpredictable, while the performances of Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Revathy stand out. However, the film suffers due to uneven writing and execution. An average fare, at best.
