Every so often a streaming thriller works because one actor refuses to let it sink. That is the story of Gajab Raat, the Netflix release that pairs writer Ritesh Shah — making his directorial debut — with producer and co-writer Neeraj Pandey, and hands the screen to Manoj Bajpayee.
Rediff.com’s review is clear about the trade-off: the film’s script is not always steady, but Bajpayee’s performance is the reason it stays watchable.
One long night in Delhi
The plot turns on a brutally beaten young woman who is thrown out of a car and lands in a Delhi hospital. Social media outrage over women’s safety, and over the Delhi police’s ineffectiveness, pushes the case into the spotlight.
Bajpayee plays Ajay Nirvit, a reluctant cop with a bad-boy reputation — the review notes he is known as the “Sanju Baba” of the police force. He would rather enjoy his rescue from a recent hotel raid, in which Nushrratt Bharuccha appears in a brief sparkling cameo, than take charge. But pressure from a CBI officer (Akshay Oberoi), an NIA officer (Saqib Saleem) and a social worker (Shraddha Das) tells him there is a bigger game running underneath.
At first, Nirvit sees a chance to make big money, a plan his superior Rana (Rajiv Gupta) endorses. Then he learns who the injured woman is and why she matters, and his conscience starts working against his greed.
What works, what wobbles
- Watch for: Bajpayee’s shifting mood graph as Nirvit moves between good faith and opportunism.
- Be prepared for: Shah the writer overpowering Shah the director, with long walk-and-talk scenes and bombastic speeches.
- Keep expectations low on: action choreography, supporting players, and farfetched resolutions from sex rackets to vaccine scams.
The review praises the film’s peppery dialogue and its Neeraj Pandey-style corridor exchanges, but argues that everything around Nirvit is reduced to a hierarchy he can topple too easily.
Why it’s worth your time
If you watch Gajab Raat, watch it as a star vehicle. Bajpayee has the tricky job of making a corrupt officer’s change of heart feel earned, and that is exactly the kind of balance he is known for. The film was earlier titled Ghooskhor Pandat and changed its name after hurt sentiments made headlines; that context adds a layer for fans tracking its release.
Gajab Raat is now streaming on Netflix.
Source: Rediff.com
