Raat Baaki Hai Review: An Interesting Whodunnit That Scores High On Performances By Rahul, Annup and Paoli

A sleek drama of ‘cat and mouse’ in Raat Baaki Hai begins with a murder mystery hunt and as the story paces ahead, you’re in for a thrilling ride. While the twist-laden plotlines make the film a puzzling box, its whodunnit style keeps you in till the last frame. The story revolves around a showbiz couple Kartik Sharma (Annup Sonii) and Vani Chopra (Dipannita Sharma) who seem madly in love with each other. However, on their engagement night, Vani is found killed while Kartik is on a run, escaping from the law. To be precise, Raat Baaki Hai is one of its kind with suspense, mystery, and entertainment blended aptly.

The film opens up establishing the character of investigating officer Ahlawat (Rahul Dev) who’s as charming as one could get. Known as the “royal cop” of Rajasthan, Ahlawat is assigned with Vani’s murder case. And that’s where the real hunt begins unveiling the mystery. While Ahlawat scrutinizes the crime scene, our protagonist Kartik seeks shelter in Raja Sujan Singh’s haveli. And that brings in another major surprise!

Past stories resurface over the plot as Kartik meets his ex-lover Vasuki (Paoli Dam) at the palace. Further, the plot oscillates through past and present as character equations come to light. And that’s quite appreciable as the writers go the atypical route to weave the mystery in Raat Baaki Hai. In the first 20 minutes, a perfect base of a murder-mystery story is created. And this is further followed by ‘character equations’ as their past get highlighted.

And then the last 30 minutes become a major highlight of Raat Baaki Hai as the Fincher-Esque approach of storytelling plays well in the narrative. As Ahlawat says, “A story is not what it seems. You have to seek the twist within it.” As the viewers, we try our best to connect the dots through the past stories that have been narrated so far. However, nothing works! There are plenty of surprises about each character in the play that leaves us with nothing but a shocker. 

Raat Baaki Hai lives upon the classic story style, “What’s Past Is The Prologue”. Past plays a vital role in the film’s narrative, well, this aspect is not just bound with our protagonist’s life. There’s a past story of Sujan Singh and his wife Vasuki’s married life. Then there are tales of Vani’s amorous affairs and many more. And each one this subplot adds more to the film’s intriguing side.

Coming to the performances, Rahul Dev’s Ahlawat is a show-stealer. The actor has lived his on-screen persona of a bold and royal cop. Rahul’s Rajasthani accent is what makes his dialogues so powerful and also adds to his charming personality. His ideologies towards crime cases set him apart from the rest. Apart from Rahul’s impressive act, the character of Ahlawat lives due to his notions of a dutiful yet straightforward officer.

Undoubtedly, Vasuki’s character is the soul of the show, all thanks to the charismatic performance by Paoli Dam. Her unpredictable personality makes her the most mysterious character of the show. However, most of her actions are justified by her tragic past. And most importantly, Vasuki’s character graph witnesses an unexpected surge as we head towards the climax. We are sure you’ll definitely love the intriguing side of Vasuki.

Annup Sonii plays Kartik Sharma, a writer who’s quite average when it comes to giving a proper ending to his story. And during the climax, when this real-life trait of Kartik commingles in the plot, we could not help but applaud the writers. Soni delivers a remarkable performance as Kartik. Then there’s Vani Chopra played by Dipannita Sharma. Though she has a little screen time, she grabs our attention whenever she’s on-screen.

Talking about the technical aspects, many filmmakers tend to use unnecessary dizzy angles whenever they shoot a thriller or horror. However, going the atypical way, director Avinash Das seems to be a fan of still frames. And that stillness ultimately becomes an interesting element of the film as it makes the viewers uncomfortable and also keeps them glued to the screens.

Also, the background music is used quite subtly, at crucial plot points. The film proves that when the script is good enough you don’t need music to add a dramatic tone.

Coming back to the plot of Raat Baaki Hai, the ending is what we eagerly wait for. Well, it won’t disappoint you. The threads of murder mystery, past betrayals, and love affairs all come together during the climax, making up for a breathtaking ending. Overall, Raat Baaki Hai is a perceptive study of criminal minds that scores high on an intriguing plot.

Raat Baaki Hai is now streaming on ZEE5.

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