A film called Gajab Raat (“what a night”) promises something extraordinary, and Netflix’s new Hindi crime thriller mostly delivers something watchable. The title suggests something remarkable, but the actual impact falls short of that promise. Directed by Ritesh Shah, it reunites Manoj Bajpayee with Neeraj Pandey, their first collaboration since Special 26 and Aiyaary. That pedigree sets expectations high, and the film only partly meets them.

A cop with a price

Bajpayee plays Ajay, a sub-inspector who has been stuck at the same rank for twenty years. (Outlets spell his surname differently, so check the credits before you quote it.) That history makes him ripe for temptation. A ?5 crore bribe raises the stakes and drags him into a conspiracy involving powerful people. The setting is a single night in Delhi, and the trailer opens with a hotel raid and a battered young woman dumped from a moving car.

The one-night structure is the film’s best idea. It should create pressure and a ticking clock, and at its best it does. For a long stretch the film maintains a sense of dread about what really happened in the city’s underbelly that evening.

The performance that holds it together

Nearly every critic agrees on the film’s main strength. Bajpayee does a fantastic job as the corrupt cop who will do anything for money. He has played policemen many times, and here he finds a rumpled, self-justifying greed that feels lived-in rather than theatrical. He uses sharp dialogue and calculated expressions to portray the character. The film leans on his shoulders, and that is what makes it bearable.

Not everyone is convinced, though. One critic felt that even Bajpayee struggles with a toothless script and middling dialogue, overcompensating with his expressions. I’d say that’s the minority view, but it fits the film’s larger problem: a great actor can only do so much with uneven material.

Where the writing slips

The screenplay’s early promise is real. The writing builds intrigue through realistic dialogue, gradual revelations and dark humour. A series of sharp mid-film twists keeps viewers from tuning out early.

The second half is the problem. It loses steam, with implausible developments and a convenient climax that weaken the mystery. The bigger flaw is the protagonist’s arc. Ajay’s sudden moral shift lacks convincing justification. A thriller about conscience lives or dies on whether that turn feels earned, and several reviewers say it doesn’t. Tone is another complaint. The film can’t decide whether it wants to be an investigative thriller, a social drama or a dramedy, and some jokes fail to land. Dark humour suits a corrupt-cop story, but here it seems to undercut the tension rather than sharpen it.

An ensemble short on room

The cast is strong on paper. Akshay Oberoi is restrained as CBI officer Navin Madhok, a good counterweight to Bajpayee’s volatility. Divya Dutta makes an impression as a politician despite limited screen time, and Rajiv Gupta adds fun through his banter with Bajpayee. That limited screen time is a recurring gripe, and Dutta gets shockingly little of it. The same review argues that Nushrratt Bharuccha’s character, Rosy, adds nothing to the plot, which seems a waste given how prominently she appears in the trailer. I couldn’t find much critical comment on the work of Saqib Saleem or Kiku Sharda, so I’d treat their contributions as unproven until you’ve seen the film.

What the film is really about

Beneath the plot mechanics is a darker idea. A woman who has suffered violence becomes a liability to be managed by the state. That is easily the most disturbing thread in the film, and it gives Ajay’s shifting priorities some weight. It also exposes the film’s central tension: the story’s moral stakes are heavier than its slick, twisty thriller packaging can comfortably carry.

Verdict

Gajab Raat is a solid premise and a great lead performance wrapped in a script that doesn’t finish what it starts. Critics’ scores so far range from 2.5/5 to 3/5, with the consensus being that it’s entertaining but not memorable. If you’re a Manoj Bajpayee fan, or you like a Delhi-noir crime story you can finish in one sitting, it’s worth a look. Keep expectations moderate, though: the night is interesting, but not quite gajab.