Gajab Raat (2026)
Gajab Raat Review: Manoj Bajpayee Elevates a Brisk but Familiar Delhi Thriller
Gajab Raat is a film that knows its strengths and leans on them hard. Directed by first-timer Ritesh Shah and produced by Neeraj Pandey, this Netflix crime thriller unfolds over a single, sweltering night in Delhi, following a spectacularly corrupt police officer who stumbles into a case far bigger than his usual shakedowns. Critics have been divided on whether the film’s execution matches its ambition, but nearly all agree on one thing: Manoj Bajpayee is its undeniable engine.
The critical reception has been mixed, with some outlets embracing the film’s pulpy energy and others finding it hollow. News18 was the most enthusiastic, awarding 4 out of 5 and calling it “a deliciously slippery mystery thriller” that is “brisk, crafty, sporadically funny and consistently entertaining” [citation:11]. Cinema Express gave it 3 out of 5, praising its “pacey script that keeps you on its toes” while faulting “the most generic score I’ve heard in recent times” and flat lighting that undercuts the tension [citation:2].
More critical voices were less forgiving. Times Now awarded 2.5 out of 5, writing that despite “the twists, turns and Neeraj Pandey’s signature crime-thriller setup, this Netflix outing is hardly as gajab as its title suggests” [citation:8]. India Today was harsher still, giving it 2 out of 5 and arguing that “there is hardly any gajabness (wonderment) here, only ajabness (bafflement),” while criticising the protagonist’s moral turnaround as “less a moral awakening than a U-turn without an indicator” [citation:14].
Where critics converge is on Bajpayee’s performance. Outlook India noted that “there is a lived-in quality to his performance” and that “he does not make the character instantly likeable, and that is to the film’s advantage” [citation:6]. Tribune India wrote that “Manoj Bajpayee as Ajay, who is called Girgit in Delhi circles, is as always superb, even when he changes colours befitting of a chameleon” [citation:12]. The supporting cast—particularly Divya Dutta’s commanding politician and Rajiv Gupta’s sardonic superior—drew consistent praise, even as the film’s screenplay was faulted for undercooking its conspiracy and rushing its emotional beats. Gajab Raat is not the masterpiece its pedigree might suggest, but as a vehicle for one of Hindi cinema’s finest actors, it delivers enough to justify a watch.
Gajab Raat Cast: Manoj Bajpayee Anchors a Strong Ensemble
The film assembles a deep bench of character actors, led by a performer who makes even a morally bankrupt cop compelling:
Manoj Bajpayee delivers yet another commanding performance as SI Ajay Nirvit, a Delhi cop nicknamed “Girgit” (Chameleon) for his ability to shift colours and allegiances. Bajpayee captures “the casual confidence of a man who has spent years gaming the system, making his greed and shamelessness thoroughly believable” [citation:14], while also finding moments of dry wit and unexpected pathos. Tribune India noted that “only he can call himself a ‘tuchcha SI’ and rise many notches as an actor” [citation:12].
Akshay Oberoi brings intrigue and menace as Naveen Madhok, a man claiming to be a CBI officer whose true motives remain opaque. Divya Dutta lends authority and presence to a key political role, with News18 noting she “brings authority to her role as a politician” [citation:8]. Saqib Saleem appears as Karan Gill, an NIA officer whose allegiances are equally unclear, making the most of limited screen time. Nushrratt Bharuccha makes an enjoyable cameo appearance, while Shraddha Das plays social worker Neha Prabhu. Rajiv Gupta is excellent as Ajay’s sardonic superior, his banter with Bajpayee providing some of the film’s sharpest moments. Kiku Sharda appears in a guest role, with Meghna Agarwal and Dhiru Bhojwani rounding out the ensemble.
Gajab Raat Plot: One Night, One Case, One Impossible Choice
The story begins on an ordinary night for Sub-Inspector Ajay Nirvit (Manoj Bajpayee), a Delhi police officer notorious for his money-making schemes and his womanising ways. He is in the middle of a raid at a hotel in Connaught Place—not to uphold the law, but to extort a bigger cut from the owner—when he receives a call from his superior about a shocking crime. A severely injured young woman has been thrown from a moving car onto the road, and the incident is already going viral on social media.
Ajay is dispatched to the scene, where he finds the woman barely clinging to life. He escorts her to the hospital and begins trying to establish her identity. But the case quickly spirals beyond his control. A social worker named Neha Prabhu (Shraddha Das) arrives and insists on being involved in the investigation. Then a man claiming to be CBI officer Naveen Madhok (Akshay Oberoi) appears—and he is the very man who was sitting beside the woman in the car before she fell. Madhok claims the woman is a Russian national and a mole connected to a drug lord, and demands that Ajay hand over the case. Ajay, stubborn and instinctively suspicious, refuses.
The situation grows more complicated with the arrival of Karan Gill (Saqib Saleem) from the NIA, each agency claiming jurisdiction and each with its own hidden agenda. As Ajay digs deeper, he uncovers a conspiracy that reaches far beyond a single injured woman, drawing in powerful people, a vaccine scam, and a network of corruption that implicates the very institutions meant to protect the public. The woman’s true identity—whether she is a British-born activist, a Russian spy, or something else entirely—becomes the key to a much larger game [citation:8].
Over the course of this single, relentless night, Ajay must navigate a maze of competing interests, threats, and temptations. His corrupt instincts tell him to find a way to profit from the chaos, but something in the case—and in the woman’s desperate struggle—begins to unsettle him. The film builds toward a conclusion that asks whether a man who has spent two decades exploiting the system can ever truly choose to do the right thing, and what that choice might cost him. Gajab Raat is a story about the machinery of corruption and the people who keep it running—and about what happens when one of those people is forced to decide whether to keep turning the wheel or step off it entirely.
“One night. One case. No easy answers.”