When Vidya Balan decides to grace us with a movie, the anticipation for it goes pretty high. The same was the case with Neeyat. Directed by Anu Menon, Neeyat has an ensemble cast starring Vidya Balan, Ram Kapoor, Rahul Bose, Dipannita Sharma, Shashank Arora, Shahana Goswami, Neeraj Kabi, Amrita Puri, Prajakta Koli, Niki Aneja Walia, and Danesh Razvi. Starring some of the stalwarts of Indian cinema, this mystery-thriller was touted to be an engaging one. Does the movie live up to those expectations? Read our review to find out.

A tale as old as time

If you have read enough mystery novels or seen enough shows, nothing in Neeyat will really be a surprise to you. It borrows from Knives Out, Murder on the Orient Express, and other mystery shows and movies. Neeyat is pretty formulaic. A group of people gather together to celebrate the birthday of a businessman, Ashish Kapoor (Ram Kapoor). But the celebration takes a turn for the worse when Ashish is found dead. Everyone in the party is a suspect. Luckily for them, and quite unluckily for the killer, CBI officer Mira Rao (Vidya Balan) is also in attendance.

It’s a story you have heard before, and there’s nothing different in Neeyat either. Through the night of AK’s death, Mira is on the hunt for the killer. The visuals of Neeyat are beautiful. They give an old-world charm that is soothing for the eyes. Unfortunately, nothing else in the movie makes any impact. The story is fairly predictable with only a couple of surprises along the way. But, the plot twist at the end of the movie, with a surprise cameo, is worth a mention. The final 10 minutes of the movie were much better than the preceding hour and a half.

The performances in the movie are nothing to write home about. Vidya Balan has done similar roles before and her performance, though good, isn’t all that exciting. The rest of the cast doesn’t make much of an impression either.

Neeyat would have been better off as an OTT release rather than a theatrical one. But if you have nothing to do over the weekend and want to kill some time, Neeyat is now in theatres.

Can you watch Neeyat with your family?: Absolutely, there is nothing violent or sexual in the movie.

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