Gajab Raat Review: ★★½☆☆ (2.5/5)
Gajab Raat has a great lead performance from Manoj Bajpayee and a decent one-night premise. But predictable twists, thin supporting characters, and an unconvincing moral turn make it a watchable but forgettable thriller.
Rating: ★★½☆☆ (2.5/5)
Platform: Netflix
Genre: Crime Thriller
Director: Ritesh Shah
Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Divya Dutta, Saqib Saleem, Akshay Oberoi
A corrupt cop who takes bribes at the drop of a hat suddenly finds out the value of honesty. On paper, that sounds like a great twist. In Gajab Raat, though, it feels less like a surprise and more like a puzzle you cannot solve. The film promises wonder, which is what “gajab” means, but mostly delivers confusion, or ajab.
The Netflix thriller is directed by Ritesh Shah and co-written by Neeraj Pandey, who reunites with Manoj Bajpayee after Special 26 and Aiyaary. Bajpayee plays Ajay Nirvet, a sub-inspector who has been stuck in the same rank for 20 years. He has no big dreams.
Easy money is all he cares about. In the opening scenes, he leads a raid on a seedy hotel and rounds up unmarried couples, only to pressure the owner into paying the police a bigger cut. His home life is just as messy, with a strained marriage and an affair with a sex worker.
Then everything changes in one night. A badly injured young woman is thrown from a moving car near Connaught Place in Delhi, and Ajay gets the case. The man with her, played by Akshay Oberoi, looks mysterious and claims to be a CBI officer who wants to take over.
Soon another man, played by Saqib Saleem, arrives and says he is from the NIA and also demands control. When several agencies fight over one case, you know something big is hidden underneath. An attempt to kill the woman in the hospital makes things even more tense.
The case slowly leads to a vaccine scam that reaches some of the most powerful people in the country. The idea that the people on the ground are just pawns while the real players sit in high offices is a relevant one. It shows how institutions meant to protect people can be bent by money and ambition.
The film’s emotional hook is Ajay’s change of heart. We meet the woman’s parents, who describe how she fought to survive and dreamed of becoming a journalist who could change the world. Her courage is meant to push Ajay to look at his own choices. But the film does not build that link in a believable way.
One moment, Ajay treats every case as a chance for cash, and the next, he is preaching honesty. One reviewer called it a U-turn without an indicator. A morally grey character can be great to watch, but his journey has to feel earned, and here the switch simply flips.
The writing is the bigger problem. Neeraj Pandey is known for tight, layered thrillers, so the plain script is a surprise. The story moves quickly, but speed is not the same as suspense. The twists are predictable, the reveals lack punch, and a conspiracy at the top of power should feel far more gripping.
The ending is fairly realistic, but it does not offer a satisfying payoff either. Efforts to link one night’s case to a national crisis also feel a bit heavy-handed.
Manoj Bajpayee is the reason to stay. He has played many police officers, but his cheeky, slightly sinister Ajay is fun to watch. He captures the easy confidence of a man who has spent years gaming the system, and he holds the film together even when the script wobbles.
The rest of the cast does not get much to work with. Divya Dutta makes an impression as a politician in limited screen time, and Rajiv Gupta adds fun through his banter with Bajpayee. Oberoi, Saleem, Shraddha Das, and Kiku Sharda are mostly wasted.
Nushrratt Bharuccha feels miscast as a sex worker, and her loud laugh gets irritating quickly. One scene that suggests a Kashmiri woman can pass as Russian or Indo-British because of her skin and hair also feels odd and insensitive.
In the end, Gajab Raat is a one-time watch for Bajpayee fans if you keep your expectations low.
If you want more to watch, our review of Sumo Didi covers an uplifting sports biopic with no villain, and our review of Chaar Yaar looks at a friendship comedy that starts fast but loses control halfway.
Gajab Raat is now streaming on Netflix.