Neeyat: A Murder Mystery Sans The Thrills
Yogendra is freelance writer
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By Yogendra
First publised on 2023-09-04 02:32:07
About the Author
Yogendra is freelance writer
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Neeyat (OTT release on Disney Hotstar) is a murder mystery that has a castle full of suspects. As the CBI officer Mira Rao (Vidya Balan in a surprisingly subdued performance) discovers in her investigations, all of them are leeches (as their host and benefactor, billionaire tycoon Ashish Kapoor aka AK (Ram Kapoor) calls them just before his suicide/murder) and all of them have the motive to kill AK.
The story is about billionaire Ashish Kapoor who is accused of having committed a fraud of Rs 20000cr on Indian banks and enjoying life in Scotland after having fled the country. He is accused of not paying salaries to staff and pushing them to suicide. In Scotland, he calls his near and dear ones to celebrate his birthday. But AK has a plan. He wants to surrender to the Indian government and handover all his properties in lieu of the payment being demanded from him. The leeches do not want that as that will take away the luxurious life they lead courtesy AK. Each one of them has a dark past and a motive to kill AK. Murders start happening in the castle and AK gets pushed off a cliff (or did he commit suicide?). Mira Rao investigates to discover many dark secrets. But there are twists in the tale and the ending is engaging. The movie is inspired by Knives Out 2.
There is AK's current girlfriend (Sahana Goswami) who receives a diamond necklace when she comes but it turns out to be fake. There is the estranged son (Shashank Arora) who is brainwashed by his maternal uncle (Rahul Bose) into thinking that AK killed his mother. He comes to the party with his girl friend (Prajakta Koli). There is the old friend (Neeraj Kabi) who is a doctor debarred from practice and his wife (Dippanwita Sharma) who once loved AK and they have a son whose paternity is in question. There is the tarot card reader and healer (Nikki Walia) who is AK's spiritual guru. There is K (Amrita Puri) who is AK's executive assistant. Then there is the event manager (Danesh Razvi). Finally, there is CBI officer Mira Rao. Many of them are not what they seem to be.
The story drags in places but there are enough twists and turns to keep the viewer engaged. Ultimately, though, it fails to give a sense of satisfaction despite a good plot and earnest performances. Perhaps, the writing could have been better to make it an edge-of-the-seat thriller instead of just another murder mystery.
