Gajab Raat: Manoj Bajpayee's One-Night Crime Thriller Lands on Netflix After a Title Fight

Manoj Bajpayee and Neeraj Pandey gave us Special 26 and Aiyaary, so their first reunion in about ten years was always going on my list. Gajab Raat premiered on Netflix on October 23 with no theatrical run at all. Bajpayee plays Ajay Dixit, a Delhi cop who is not exactly clean, pulled into a case that starts with a girl thrown from a moving vehicle and spirals into conflicting statements and an international conspiracy, all over a single night.

The film arrived with baggage. It was originally called Ghooskhor Pandat, a title that drew objections and court petitions for linking a community with corruption, and the makers renamed it a week before release. Whatever you think of that argument, the new title is better. Ritesh Shah, who wrote Pink and Airlift, directs for the first time, and Saqib Saleem, Akshay Oberoi and Divya Dutta support.

One-night thrillers live or die on pace, and Pandey's productions usually have that. Bajpayee playing a cop who is part of the problem rather than the solution is the hook for me. It is on Netflix now, so no excuses. Have you watched it, and does the single-night structure hold together?