JOIN USIf you manage to pass the first 20 minutes of 'Raat Akeli Hai' without yawning or falling asleep, you are in for a slow-burning murder mystery.
Jatil Yadav (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), a police inspector, gets to investigate the murder of Raghubeer Yadav, a patriarch in whose family everyone has a motive to murder him. What looks like a thirst for power and property becomes about abused women.
Radha, played by Radhika Apte, is a victim of trafficking who is married to the murdered man and becomes the prime suspect. The inspector, who is awaiting a ‘sanskari’ bride for himself, falls in love with her.
While the end throws unexpected results, the movie goes beyond the usual narrative and takes a peek into the psyche of the victims of child sexual abuse and trafficking.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s character gets the most attention and he has excelled in his performance. Radhika is just as good. Vasudha (Shivani Raghuvanshi), the niece of the murdered man, was abused by him but gets very little scope as a character, although Shivani is terrific. We don't get to know much about the other characters -- just enough to empathise with their plight.
The icing on the cake is that just as in real life, all bad men do not get punished. There is poetic justice but not for everyone. One woman gets the entire blame, and the sugar-coated end serves to make the viewer happy.