Director: Anu Menon
Cast: Vidya Balan, Ram Kapoor, , Rahul Bose, Dipannita Sharma, Shashank Arora, Shahana Goswami, Neeraj Kabi, Amrita Puri, Danesh Razvi, Nikki Aneja Walia, and Prajakta Koli
Where to watch: Theatres
Rating: 2.5 stars
Locked room mysteries are a new concept to Bollywood. The Hindi film industry has a rich history of murder mysteries, even ones that have been adapted from the West (refer to Bees Saal Baad and The Hound of Baskerville) but the classic locked room mystery is a genre largely unexplored here. So naturally, when one comes along, comparisons begin with everything from Agatha Christie stories to Knives Out. The good news is that Anu Menon’s Neeyat is a different, original film. The bad news is that it lacks the finesse and execution to stand out.
Neeyat is the story of the mysterious death of billionaire Ashish Kapoor (Ram Kapoor) at his Scottish manor. The death takes place on his birthday when his friends and family are gathered with him. Each of them has a motive to kill him, be it his estranged son, his jealous brother-in-law, or a mysterious employee. With a storm closing off all communication with the outside world, CBI officer Mira Rao (Vidya Balan) must uncover the truth before more people start dropping dead.
Neeyat has almost everything going for it. It has a wonderful eerie setting in Scotland, a premise that is grounded in reality and believable, and a stellar cast that is almost perfect for the parts. Yet, the script kacks the tightness to be as gripping as a film in this genre sould be. The film stays engaging, and in parts, even entertaining. But never does it leave you amazed or tense, which is criminal for any murder mystery.
The fim starts out on a rather weird note. The initial scenes are dramatic with many of the actors adopting an unusual larger-than-life overblown dialogue delivery. Whether it is an intentional nod to Hollywood films of this genre from the 60s or just bad direction, it is a puzzling choice either way. That makes the film seem a little cartoonish and makes it difficult for the audience to take what’s happening as seriously as they should. When you aren’t invested in the stakes, it doesn’t really matter even if they are sky high. That is where the film falters.
The performances are fluctuating. Vidya Balan is sublime as the quirky detective, who is somewhat of a know-it-all. But Vidya takes this character, which has the potential to be annoying, and makes it likable. The actress does it like she has done with so many such roles before, effortlessly and smoothly. Among the support cast, Shashank Arora as the drug-addict rich spoilt brat and Ram Kapoor as an amalgamation of Elon Musk and Vijay Mallya shine the brightest. The rest of the support cast is often tied down by the weak script, with many ending up over-emoting or overacting, which is, quite frankly such a waste of such good talent.
A good murder mystery hinges on its twists and reveals. The sound of the gasp in the theatre is what decides if the film has managed to amaze the audiences. This film has two big twists, both towards the end. The problem is that the first one is so predictable that most people see it coming from a mile away. By the interval, you pretty much know what’s going on in that department. The other twist is decidedly cleverer but spends so much time in the setup that you can predict that too. And that surprise cameo in the end doesn’t help either because it effectively steals Vidya’s thunder in just two minutes, undoing two hours of hard work in setting her as a clever, shrewd detective.
Neeyat is a good attempt in this underexplored genre, but you don’t get marks for trying in a field as cut throat as filmmaking. The end result is, sadly, not as slick as it could have been with all the ingredients director Anu Menon had with her. And that’s truly a shame!
