Neeyat Movie Review: This murder-mystery included in Vidya Balan’s weak films, bores a dull story
director- Anu Menon
artist- Vidya Balan, Ram Kapoor, Neeraj Kabi, Shahana Goswami, Shashank Arora, Nikki Aneja, Prajakta Koli, Danesh Razvi
Billionaire Ashish Kapoor flees India and goes into hiding in another country, where he mysteriously dies in his own house on the occasion of his birthday. Meera Rao, a CBI officer present at the party, steps forward to investigate, where she is exposed to many ulterior motives.. as the suspects are close family and friends of Ashish Kapoor.
‘Neyat’ and ‘Blind’ are the two murder mystery films releasing this Friday. Sonam Kapoor starrer brought to OTT while Vidya Balan starrer has hit the big screen. It was expected that some great content would be seen in this genre. Especially when the films have names like Sujoy Ghosh (Blind) and Anu Menon (Niyat) attached to them. But there is disappointment here.
Story
The story of the film is of billionaire businessman Ashish Kapoor, who has run away with a loan of 20 thousand crores from Indian banks. The world is looking for him, and he celebrates his birthday with a select few of his closest friends and family at his seaside villa in Scotland. CBI officer Meera Rao also attends this party along with all the close ones. Later everyone learns that Ashish is about to surrender himself to the Government of India and that is why he has called Meera. But the story takes a turn when Ashish dies in his own party. Obviously all the people present there get bound in the circle of suspicion. Meera Rao tries to solve the mysteries one by one. Many revelations happen, the hidden intentions of many people come to the fore, and many more lives are lost. But can Meera find the killer in this bloody game? The story revolves around this.
direction and technical side
What is most needed in a murder-mystery is good actors, dialogues and a pace in the story. Here it looks flat in order to find many suspense in the story. You won’t be surprised at any mystery, you won’t feel victorious when any mystery is solved. Despite having an army of actors in intention, the film bores on the level of screenplay. Instead of just weaving it like a detective drama, Anu Menon has tried to create a world that is relatable to the audience. The plot of the film is strong, but the screenplay is slow. There was nothing impressive in the dialogues of the film. Adam Moss tries hard to handle the film at the editing table, while cinematographer Andreas Neo captures this tale of one night in Scotland.
acting
The strongest side of the film is its cast. Where actors like Vidya Balan, Ram Kapoor, Neeraj Kabi, Shahana Goswami, Shashank Arora are together, you can only expect so much. Right from the beginning of the film, all the characters were introduced in a different way and till the end everyone kept the same. There may be flaws in the writing of the film, but all the actors have tried to give a depth to their character. Especially in the role of the spoiled son of the millionaire father, Shashank has looked very good. Vidya Balan has been very strong on some occasions, but at some places she too was seen kneeling in front of weak writing. Shefali Shah looks and charms the most in her cameo.
rating
This film could have proved to be a powerful thriller for more than one artist. The plot of the film is strong, but the weak screenplay leaves it average. Vidya Balan starrer Niyat gets 2 stars from Filmbeat.
Story first published: Friday, July 7, 2023, 10:41 [IST]
