'Raat Akeli Hai' review: A must-watch whodunnit in UP style for crime and mystery lovers

Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Radhika Apte starrer Raat Akeli Hai has premiered on Netflix. This whodunnit is a treat for Siddiqui’s fans as they witness a brand new avatar of their favourite actor as he tries to solve a murder while being a target himself. So how did Raat Akeli Hai receive love from the audience? Did this Nawaz-Radhika starrer film create a new benchmark for whodunnit films in Bollywood?

Raat Akeli Hai review

Bollywood has witnessed several whodunnits in the past. Some of them have been successful while some miserably tanked at the box-office. Now a brand new whodunit film set in Kanpur has premiered on the streaming giant Netflix. This crime mystery film is none other than Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Radhika Apte starrer Raat Akeli Hai.

Raat Akeli Hai premiered on Netflix on July 31, 2020. The moment the film premiered Netflix viewers rushed to witness these stellar actors work their magic in a new project. So did Raat Akeli Hai live up to the hype?

Starting with its lead actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, he plays the role of a small-town cop named Jatil Yadav who is expected to solve the murder case of a rich businessman and politician Raghubeer Singh on the night of his wedding.

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Inspector Jatil Yadav takes up this case like any other murder case that will be solved within days and the case file will soon rot on a shelf. But the more Yadav investigates, the more the murder plot thickens. His first suspicion is on Raghubeer’s soon to be wife Radha who is hated by the family for a special status she received by the dead patriarch.

As the investigation continues, Jatil Yadav soon realises that even though the murder took place recently, its reason is hidden in the past. A past that brings this money and power-hungry family together and ties them to the deceased. As mentioned earlier, the more Jatil Yadav investigates, the more he puts his life at stake.

As far as the performances are concerned, both Radhika Apte and Nawazuddin Siddiqui do not disappoint in this whodunnit. They make you question their intentions and their past from time to time. Their screen presence not only lights up this gloomy plot but adds depth to this murder mystery.

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Raat Akeli Hai cast

As mentioned earlier, Radhika and Nawazuddin play the roles of Raghubeer Singh’s fiancé Radha and Inspector Jatil Yadav respectively. A film like Raat Akeli Hai would not be convincing without a stellar supporting cast. Shweta Tripathi is pivotal to the film as the deceased’s daughter whose hunger for money is insatiable. Tigmanshu Dhulia as Yadav’s senior shows the pressures of being a cop with the utmost ease.

Made In Heaven star Shivani Raghuvanshi as Vasudha Singh plays a pivotal role with expertise. Seasoned actors like Aditya Srivastava, Padmavati Rao, Ila Arun, and Swanand Kirkire play their roles with finesse and display their craft in this new whodunnit. Nishant Dahiya as Vikram Singh is also convincing as a suspected murder.

Final thoughts

Raat Akeli Hai is a film that will keep you on your toes until the end. Nawazuddin and Radhika's fans will not be disappointed at all. The story and its execution will help you remember this crime-mystery drama for ages. But unfortunately, the ending of the film can leave you disappointed.

Ratings: 3.5/ 5

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