Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Review — A Familiar Maze, Still Worth Getting Lost In
Story
Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders brings back Inspector Jatil Yadav into yet another elite household where wealth masks rot and silence hides violence. This time, the stage is the Bansal family—owners of a powerful media empire—wiped out overnight in a chilling mass homicide.
With most male members dead, suspicion conveniently lands on an estranged, drug-addicted son who is no longer alive to defend himself. What looks like a closed case slowly unravels into a dense web of political machinations, blind faith orbiting a cryptic godwoman, corporate greed, and long-simmering class resentment. As Jatil digs deeper, the truth proves far more uncomfortable than the official version everyone wants to accept.
Performances
Nawazuddin Siddiqui slips into Jatil Yadav with almost disarming ease. The role fits him so naturally that it rarely stretches his formidable range, yet his quiet authority and lived-in restraint anchor the film firmly.
Chitrangada Singh, as Meera, sustains an air of entitlement and vulnerability, carefully guarding her secrets and sustaining intrigue until the end. Deepti Naval starts strong but is let down by underwritten material, while Revathi shines as Dr Panicker, the no-nonsense forensic expert whose presence injects brisk professionalism and subtle wit.
Rajat Kapoor delivers a controlled and effective performance, whereas Sanjay Kapoor remains largely peripheral. Radhika Apte, though appearing briefly, exudes elegance, and Ila Arun lends warmth and texture in her short screen time.
Technicalities
Composer Karan Kulkarni crafts a moody, atmospheric score that quietly amplifies dread, working in tandem with a sharp sound design that lets silences speak louder than dialogue.
The production design and costumes deepen the sense of privilege and decay within the Bansal household, while cinematographer Pankaj Kumar handles tonal shifts with finesse, bathing the narrative in shadows that mirror its moral ambiguity.
Analysis
The first Raat Akeli Hai unsettled viewers with its portrait of a dysfunctional family and its critique of patriarchy. A sequel to such a self-contained, nuanced film naturally invites skepticism. Yet director Honey Trehan and writer Smita Singh largely rise to the challenge. The sequel preserves the dna of the original—an elite family, an apparent open-and-shut case, and a stubborn investigator convinced there’s more beneath the surdata-face.
The scale feels marginally bigger, but the storytelling remains unhurried, socially conscious, and laced with dry wit. The eerie opening—marked by the ominous death of crows—sets the tone effectively. Themes of blind faith, patriarchal power structures, and class discrimination simmer beneath the procedural surdata-face. That said, the film inherits some flaws from its predecessor.
The middle portions occasionally feel overburdened with names, theories, and details, testing patience with their slow-burn silences. Still, the emotional core is preserved for the climax, where the final revelation lands with honesty and moral weight, justifying the rage that fuels the crime. While the first film remains more organic and tightly wound, this sequel stands as a respectable, confident continuation.
What Works
• A strong atmospheric grip that sustains tension
• Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s assured, lived-in performance
• Thoughtful social commentary woven into genre storytelling
• Effective use of silence, sound design, and visual mood
What Doesn’t
• A sluggish middle stretch overloaded with details
• Some underwritten supporting characters
• Lacks the raw novelty and tightness of the first instalment
Bottom Line
Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders may tread familiar ground, but it does so with conviction and craft. Loyal to the spirit of the original while carving a space of its own, it proves that this franchise still has stories worth telling—even if the first chapter remains the sharper blade.