Niyat Movie Review: This whodunnit will have you hooked in parts
Storyline:
When an exiled Niyat Movie mysteriously dies at his birthday party at a Scots castle, all his family and friends are prime accused, apiece with a Niyat Movie to kill him. CBI Officer Mira Rao must use her skills to solve the murder.
Niyat review:
A gothic Scottish castle commanding the sea, a Niyat Movie full moon night, a murder with some prime suspects—each with a clear motive, and an uncooperative but intelligent CBI officer trying to solve the mystery; prima facie, director Anu Menon’s Mystery, seems to have a lot going for it to keep the viewer hooked.
The action begins well as the colorful, exiled millionaire Ashish Kapoor (Ram Kapoor) and his posse of richlings are familiarized as everyone gathers for his birthday party. This includes his best friend Sanjay Suri (Neeraj Kabi) and his wife Noor Suri (Dipannita Sharma), outgoing brother-in-law Jimmy (Rahul Bose), divine healer and tarot card reader Zara (Niki Walia), fiancée Lisa (Shahana Goswami), son Ryan (Shashank Arora), and niece Sasha (Ishika Mehra). You can tell everyone is wandering off the magnate, and even those not in his inner circle, event boss Tanveer (Danesh Razvi), secretary Kay (Amrita Puri), and Ryan’s lover Gigi (Prajakta Koli) also have rather to hide.
Plot:
Ashish Kapoor (AK) (Ram Kapoor) is an Indian businessman who lost 20,000 crore Rupees in his dream company and fled from India to avoid incarceration. His company had over 10,000 employees whose salaries had not been paid for over 2 years. AK owns a castle in Scotland, where he is throwing a birthday party, Niyat Movie invites his close friends and family: AK’s secretary, Kamini Deb Patel (Kay), (Amrita Puri) who has a massive crush on AK and is willing to do anything for him. Jimmy Mistry (Rahul Bose) is AK’s brother-in-law who is spiteful of AK as Mistry’s father selected AK as his successor to his company but also has a crush on him.
Cast:
Vidya Balan as Mira Rao
Ram Kapoor as Ashish Kapoor (AK)
Rahul Bose as Jamshed “Jimmy” Mistry, AK’s brother-in-law
Dipannita Sharma as Noor Suri, AK’s former love interest
Neeraj Kabi as Dr. Sanjay “Sanju” Suri, AK’s friend and Noor’s husband
Madhav Deval as Ishaan Suri, Noor’s and Sanju’s son
Shahana Goswami as Lisa, AK’s girlfriend
Amrita Puri as Kamini Deb Patel (Kay), AK’s assistant
Shashank Arora as Ryan Kapoor, AK’s stepson
Prajakta Koli as Gigi, Ryan’s girlfriend aka Cub Kumar
Niki Aneja Walia as Zara, AK’s fortune teller aka Simrat Kaur
Danesh Razvi as Tanveer, event manager AKA Tanmay Shah, undercover news reporter
Ishika Mehra as Sasha, AK’s niece
Shefali Shah as Mira Rao (cameo appearance)
Supreet Bedi as Devika Chellam, AK Industries’ employee and Mira’s girlfriend
Summaries:
When a secretive murder takes place at exiled billionaire Ashish Kapoor’s birthday getaway, investigator Mira Rao must use all her skills to unravel the devious Niyat Movie as the accused are Kapoor’s close family and friends.
Indian millionaire Ashish Kapoor has discarded the banks for twenty thousand Crores and fled to London also leaving his employee with honorary salary for more than two years. At the same time, Ashish enjoys a lavish life in London and has planned his birthday in a distant area in a 500-year-old Castle. This birthday is not as usual lavish for him and he has invited Niyat Movie a few of his close influences among them one uninvited female guest. Due to the heavy storm and the breeze, the bridge coming to the Castle is blocked which means there is no exit for anyone until the storm calms down. In between silly weather, the party starts and while raising the toast Ashish tells everyone that he is soon going to submit to the Indian government and clear his name which means he will have to propose all of his properties in London to the Indian government.
Most would agree that the most significant part of writing a locked room mystery is to make the spectators invest in the characters and bring the audience to the advantage of their seats by the time the big reveal starts to unravel. Alas, Anu Menon’s Niyat Movie starts with a long, predictable, and pretentious build-up before the second half somewhat salvages this otherwise tedious, by-the-numbers Niyat Movie drama. Some moments promise a delightful ode to manor murder mysteries but Niyat Movie remains well short of what it proposes to achieve.
Team:
| Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Anu Menon |
| Written by | Anu Menon Girvani Dhyani Advaita Kala Priya Venkataraman |
| Produced by | Vikram Malhotra |
| Starring | Vidya Balan Ram Kapoor Rahul Bose Dipannita Sharma Shashank Arora Shahana Goswami Neeraj Kabi Amrita Puri Danesh Razvi Prajakta Koli |
| Cinematography | Andreas Neo |
| Edited by | Adam Moss |
| Music by | Mickey McCleary |
| Production companies | Abundantia Entertainment Amazon Studios |
| Distributed by | Pen Marudhar Entertainment |
| Release date | 7 July 2023 |
| Running time | 130 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |