Gajab Raat Movie Review: Manoj Bajpayee Owns Every Second Of This Single Night As He Pauses Ghooskhori To Save A Girl – Neeraj Pandey’s Thriller Never Loses Its Charm!

Gajab Raat Review Rating:

Star Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Akshay Oberoi, Saqib Saleem, Divya Dutta, and others

Director: Ritesh Shah

Gajab Raat Movie Review Ft. Manoj Bajpayee As The Ghooskhor Cop Leading A Thriller That Never Loses Its Charm — Gajab Raat Movie Review Ft. Manoj Bajpayee: Keeps You Hooked Till The End! (Photo Credit – Instagram)

What’s Good: Manoj Bajpayee’s effortless command over a morally grey character, the single-night timeline of the events!

What’s Bad: The narrative occasionally gets muddled in its second half!

Loo Break: Anytime you want!

Watch or Not?: Definitely Yes! Why would you miss a good thriller? That is rare in this genre these days!

Language: Hindi

Available On: Netflix

Runtime: 2 hours and 4 minutes

User Rating:

Let me be honest, I am not very fond of grey characters. Call it my character flaw, but I do judge people on the basis of white and black. So when a grey character impresses me, it has to be very well written to do that, and Manoj Bajpayee as a corrupt cop is that character. Written by Neeraj Pandey and directed by Ritesh Shah, his SI Ajay Nirvit is a man who impresses in Gajab Raat. A thriller is a genre Neeraj Pandey never gets wrong! If he is building a world, you will live in it till the time he wants you to move places!

This Netflix thriller was earlier titled Ghooskhor Pandat, and honestly, that title works so well for this film that I feel bad that the makers had to let it go due to controversies. But the story remains as good as it must have been, and I still feel calling it Ghooskhor Pandat was a brilliant choice! Even if the controversies pressured, the film should not have parted ways with Ghooskhor!

Anyway, moving away from the title, Neeraj Pandey has written this thriller, and when he does that, it is impossible for you not to get hooked! There are two types of cops the Bollywood world is obsessed with- one that is built by Rohit Shetty, the righteous one, and one that is led by Salman Khan – the Dabangg ones! But director Ritesh Shah lets us meet the third kind – the grey ones! Ones who can pause their misdeeds to maintain the balance of society!

Gajab Raat Movie Review: Script Analysis

As the name of this film earlier suggested, Manoj Bajpayee plays a corrupt police officer, SI Ajay Nivrit, who is on a regular raid of a motel exposing a sex racket. But he is not there to bust it; he is there to settle the score with the owner of the motel, who is not bribing him or his senior enough! Ajay’s night takes an unexpected and violent turn when a severely injured, unidentified young woman is abandoned from a moving car on the Delhi streets. As the incident goes viral on social media, creating an instant public frenzy, Ajay is appointed as the Investigating Officer of this case.

Complications multiply exponentially when a man claiming to be a CBI officer (Akshay Oberoi) arrives demanding control, an NIA officer (Saqib Saleem) begins keeping a close watch, and social worker Neha Prabhu (Shraddha Das) enters the scene. Why does he pause his misdeeds for a single night? Why is he being bribed to kill her? Why is he trying to strike a deal with the officers? Is he a corrupt officer having a change of heart? Why does he change his plans? And most importantly, who is the girl? All of this forms the premise of a racy thriller that keeps you guessing till the end and never loses its charm during its 2-hour journey!

Gajab Raat Movie Review: Star Performance

When it comes to inhabiting complex, morally ambiguous characters, Manoj Bajpayee is in a league of his own. As Ajay Nirvit, he injects dark humor, street-smart swagger, and a surprising emotional depth into a man who would normally be written off as morally corrupt! His dialogue delivery, punctuated by philosophical monologues, sets an authentic tone for the thriller!

The supporting cast provides good backing. Divya Dutta commands attention in her powerful, restrained appearance, while Akshay Oberoi and Saqib Saleem maintain a sharp tension as the mysterious officers. Nushrratt Bharuccha and Kiku Sharda leave a good impact in their cameos that do not have much to do!

Gajab Raat Movie Review: Direction, Music

Ritesh Shah uses the restricted window brilliantly to squeeze the narrative, ensuring that every scene adds immediate pressure to the clock. The film shines brightest when it keeps the guessing game intact. Meanwhile, the characters’ trading deals make for an interesting hook! The writing avoids generic thriller clichés and favors grounded moments. However, it does get a little stretched with the monologues and preachiness in the end, but I do not mind a good moral value lecture when the thriller is good and has kept me hooked throughout! Ritesh keeps the film tight, and the tone is gritty. The one-night structure gives the film a sense of urgency, and for a debutant director, creating this kind of control over the material is impressive.

However, the film stumbles a bit in the second half as the characters, such as Saqib Saleem’s NIA officer, feel sidelined without entirely clear motivation tying them to the central emotional core. The music keeps you mostly hooked; however, it is not a major highlight here. It is any regular thriller on that front!

Gajab Raat Movie Review: The Last Word

At one point, Ajay Nirvit tells the unconscious victim, “Insaan naa kisi se bhi seekh sakta hai. Veerappan, apna daaku, Chandan ki ladki wala. Uski ek aadat thi…jab bhi wo kisi haathi ko maarta tha naa to daant nikaalne se Pehle haathi ko sorry bolta tha. Thank you bhi bolta tha, uska aur uske aadmiyon ka pet bharne ke liye. Sorry aur thank you, tumko bhi! Bumper lottery ho tum.” You feel a sense of rage and helplessness during the scene!

It feels like a personal triumph when Ajay Nirvit’s corrupt cop decides to pause his corrupt practices for his one case! He tells his immediate officer – We might resume this corruption from tomorrow, but not for this victim! I am not sure how this convinced me that this is a good man, but it did. Is corruption okay up to a point? I do not know, but the thriller drags me out of this moral ambiguity and keeps me hooked to its premise!

Gajab Raat proves that you don’t always need a vast universe to build a compelling thriller; sometimes, a midnight, a morally bankrupt cop, and an unexpected rescue mission of a victim are all it takes to keep the audience hooked.

3.5 stars.