Raat Akeli Hai begins as the classic who dun it –one murder, many suspects. Thakur Raghubeer Singh,a powerful Lucknow businessman, has been murdered in his sprawling kothi on his wedding night. He has been murdered and bludgeoned so viciously, that a character remarks “Lagta hai koi bohot naraz tha is aadmi se”. It was the Thakur’s second marriage and there are as many suspects, as there are family members. This is the classic upper-class dysfunctional khaandan. Enter the stubborn and spirited cop Jatil Yadav, who insists on pursuing every lead to its logical end. I settled in, thinking we were going to see a Hindi version of Knives Out. But, debutant director Honey Trehan and writer Smita Singh, use genre conventions to create a horrifying portrait of patriarchy.
The men in
the film range from being merely entitled and sanctimonious, to being sexual
perverts, rapists and killers. The women, irrespective of their status from the
wealthy matriarch to maid to prostitute are collateral, to be used, abused, traded
as the men wish. It reminded me of a terrific scene in Sonchiriya, directed by
Abhishek Chaubey, who's also the supervising producer on this film. A female
daku Phulia, modeled on Phoolan Devi, tells Indu, played by Bhumi Pednekar, that
women are such second-class citizens, that they aren’t even deserving of the
cruel caste system. They are the lowest of the low. This expansion of a murder
mystery layers the narrative, but it also makes the screenplay unwieldy. The
bodies pile up. There’s greed, police corruption, family politics, servants who
know too much and powerful benefactors trying to sway the investigation. For
the first hour or so, Honey keeps the storytelling twisty and taut. We are
introduced to the feral characters, all of whom seem to be hiding something. The
Thakur’s sprawling home, with long corridors, backdoor stairways and
expensive-looking decorations and wallpaper, is a character itself.
The women,
especially Radha, who is the new mistress of the house, seem trapped within
these walls, which reek of the rot within. Jatil, who must wade through this
muck, refuses to do it politely. Jatil means complex. We are told that his name
was Jatin, but his mother changed it, perhaps in anticipation of exactly this
case. The relationship between Jatil and his mother, played wonderfully by Ila
Arun, provides the few tinges of humor in the film. All she wants is for him to
marry. He’s fixated on finding a decent girl, but his mother, who is far wiser,
tells him “Bahar ki cheezen dekhoge toh dhoka hi khaoge”.Of course through the
course of the investigation, Jatil’s idea of what constitutes decent, takes a
U-turn. Honey, whose worked extensively with Vishal Bhardwaj and Abhishek, isn’t
afraid of peering into the darkest recesses of human nature.
The
violence in the film is both psychological and literal. Honey and DoP Pankaj
Kumar, who also shot the stunning Tumbbad, skilfully stage scenes of
lawlessness. A stand-out is one toward the end, when several characters meet
under a bridge at night. The frantic, incessant traffic overhead, doesn’t
interrupt the bullets underneath. Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who is almost in every frame
of this film, shoulders the weight admirably. He manages to find the sweet spot
between the flamboyant Dabangg UP cop and an insecure, irritable man who
demands justice. Radhika Apte matches him with her fiery presence and
conviction her eyes blaze with fury at her circumstances. Honey, who is also a
respected casting director, fills the frame with solid actors – among them, Shweta
Tripathi, Shivani Raghuvanshi, Aditya Srivastavaand Tigmanshu Dhulia as Jatil’s
superior. Each one contributes to building this claustrophobic world. Raat
Akeli Hai has a two-hour twenty-nine minute run time, which dissipates some of
the tension of the film. The songs by Sneha Khanwal kardi lute the suspense
further. Moments in the film feel rushed, like Honey and Smita just wanted to
tie up the loose ends. I'll also admit that I’m getting weary of watching women
being brutalized on streaming platforms from Mrs. Serial Killer to Paatal Lokto
Bulbbul to Raat Akeli Hai. Why is there such a consistent strain of violence
against women? But if you can make your peace with that, Raat Akeli Hai is a
gripping tale of murder and revenge. And I must mention Honey’s sly sense of
humor. He finds the inherent absurdity in the visual of a bride sitting in all
her finery on the nuptial bed, while the groom has been murdered. He also
lingers for the briefest moment on a sign that reads: UP Police. Always at your
Service. It’s at once, funny and chilling. The title Raat Akeli Hai comes from
the classic S. D. Burman song from Jewel Thief. You remember the glorious
Tanuja, in this figure-hugging gown, with Asha Bhonsle’s velvet voice, inviting
the dashing Dev Anand to whisper something in her ear? It’s flirtatious and fun
and playfully seductive. This film is the exact opposite of that. You can watch
Raat Akeli Hai on Netflix.
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