Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders

Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders (transl. The Night Is Lonely: The Bansal Murders) is a 2025 Indian Hindi-language crime thriller film directed by Honey Trehan.^[2] Produced by Ronnie Screwvala's RSVP Movies and Honey Trehan and Abhishek Chaubey's MacGuffin Pictures,^[3][4] the film stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Chitrangada Singh,^[5] with Radhika Apte making a special appearance. It is a sequel to Raat Akeli Hai (2020).^[6][7]

After a brief period of meditation, Meera Bansal happens to be disturbed by crow sounds. As she reaches the backyard, she witnesses a horrifying scene: crows falling down to their death.

On the orders of DGP Sameer Verma, Sub-Inspector Jatil Yadav is summoned to the Bansal house to find the root cause of it. After taking the statements of all the Bansal members and the staff present, he witnesses a restrained Aarav fighting hard, following which Meera intervenes and calms Aarav down and taken back to his room. Jatil learns that Aarav is a drug addict, fighting against relapse and his treatment by the family. He also meets Guru Maa, who is a spiritual guru along with the Bansal family, who warns everyone in the room that the odds aren’t good and no one will be able to stop the upcoming events.

Jatil investigates and finds the culprits responsible for the crow massacre, and when captured they confessed the plan was initiated by an unknown man, and the duo is revealed to be working for Newrise TV, owned by Rajesh Bansal, who has a bitter relation to the Bansal family (who manages the newspaper Prabhat Manthan) and is fighting for the assets of the Prabhat Group. On interrogation, Rajesh denies the allegations.

Jatil manages his personal life with Radha and his mother, who happens to contradict his beliefs. As the investigation gets concluded, Yadav visits the Bansal house where to his shock, he sees Meera covered in blood, and the Bansal family (excluding Aastha, Meera, Om Prakash and the guard) brutally murdered, and Aarav lying in the ground pool. This event makes the DGP assign the case to SP Chauhan, who resorts to any means to conclude the case quickly. Meera is called upon to narrate the incident and reveals that Aarav was the killer who, after eliminating the members, got kicked by an injured Om Prakash to his death. From the inputs of Dr.Panicker, the department learns that they had tested positive for clonazepam, ingested via dessert delivered from Guru Maa’s establishment, and Aarav was under influence. Yadav questions Aastha, who reveals that Aarav was relapsing and though he was normal prior to the murder, she reasons that Aarav had no such motive to even attempt such an act. After collecting statements and evidence from the wider community, Yadav reveals that Meera has a role in the murder (from garden CCTV and Dr.Amit’s statement).

Yadav later feels that something isn’t right, particularly with Meera's son’s death. Despite Dr.Panicker’s resistance, she eventually gives in and helps Yadav in his findings. They both however uncover that the son (who had an existing pulmonary infection) had fallen sick too quickly to pass within 3 days, when the disease itself usually takes time to present and affect. He interrogates Dr.Nisha Pal about the nebuliser (a scene Jatil witnessed while catching the crow culprits). Nisha explains the incident which happened in the local school event, where a nearby factory gas leaked, contributing to the death of her son, along with many kids and sick ones. Yadav finds evidence from the factory relating to Meera and proceeds to interrogate Meera with approval from Verma. A tense interrogation ultimately ends in futile as Meera proves herself innocent. However, Yadav uncovers a crucial evidence and with help from Panicker and Nisha, he reaches the hospital to visit Om Prakash.

In a shocking twist, Yadav unveils Om Prakash as the killer of the Bansals by contradicting his events with his new evidence. The plan is revealed: Om Prakash(their driver at that time), Meera and her son were there for the school event, where Meera’s son and his daughter Rinki fell ill and both died. Prakash got demoted down owing to pressure from the Bansal family and the factory was shut down by their influence. Angry at the injustice shown towards his society and grief of his daughter, Prakash planned to eliminate them on the death anniversary of his daughter: Supplied drugs to Aarav, then killed Mahinder first and the rest of the members, when Aarav witnesses the killing and attacks him. As Om Prakash tries to flee, he gets cornered by Meera and Aastha, leading to Aarav injuring him and the subsequent death of Aarav. His recorded confession gets leaked to the media, where Verma and Chauhan briefed the media about the conclusion of the investigation, dismisses Panicker and suspends Yadav for not aligning with their ways.

Jatil and Radha resume their conversation about their future and he assures Radha of his commitment while Dr.Panicker also joins in with his mother. As Radha leaves, he sees Dr.Panicker and his mother in a conversation, and realises one of Guru Maa’s words. The film ends with Jatil throwing the horoscope books (handed down by his mother at the beginning) inside the dustbin.

• Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Inspector Jatil Yadav
• Chitrangada Singh as Meera Bansal
• Deepti Naval as Guru Maa
• Rajat Kapoor as DGP Sameer Verma
• Revathi as Dr. Rosie Panicker
• Sanjay Kapoor as Rajesh Bansal
• Ila Arun as Sarita Kumari, Jatil's mother
• S. M. Zaheer as Mahinder Bansal
• Akhilendra Mishra as SP Chauhan
• Radhika Apte as Radha (Special appearance)
• Priyanka Setia as Dr.Nisha Pal
• Suhas Ahuja as Dr.Amit Khanna
• Delzad Hiwale as Aarav Bansal
• Aarushi Bajaj as Aastha Bansal
• Chiraj Bajaj as Madhav Bansal

Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders had its world premiere at the 56th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa on 21 November 2025, where it was screened as a gala premiere.^[8]

Following its screening at the festival, the film was released on Netflix on 19 December 2025.^[9]

Rahul Desai of The Hollywood Reporter India stated that "It is a whodunit worth the wait and A Cleverly Calibrated Crime Thriller."^[10] Rishabh Suri of Hindustan Times gave 3 stars out of 5 and said that "Overall, even when it stumbles, Raat Akeli Hai 2 remains compelling. There was scope to make it an even darker investigation drama. But a solid cast and a neatly resolved climax make it a worthy follow-up in spirit, if not in structure."^[11] Anuj Kumar of The Hindu stated that " director Honey Trehan crafts a mystery that intertwines crime and social commentary. Though uneven in pacing, the film deftly examines the intersection of entitlement and morality in society."^[12]

Rashmi Vasudeva of Deccan Herald rated it 3/5 stars and said that "The film plays out largely as a procedural, but the nervous unpredictability that made the first edition so compelling is sorely missed."^[13] Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave 2.5/5 stars and writes that "The best written character remains Nawazuddin Siddiqui's Jatil, still moving his mouth in the way he did in the first film, as the moral centre of the film."^[14] Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in feels that "The new movie doesn’t have the potency of its predecessor, or the atmospheric visuals that suggested perverse deeds unfolding in dark corners."^[15]

Bollywood Hungama rated it 2.5/5 stars and said that "On the whole, RAAT AKELI HAI: THE BANSAL MURDERS works in parts, mainly because the climax is unpredictable, while the performances of Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Revathy stand out. However, the film suffers due to uneven writing and execution. An average fare, at best."^[16] Devesh Sharma of Filmfare gave 3.5 stars out of 5 and said that " It is a sobering, intelligent thriller that confirms this franchise is less about murder mysteries and more about the moral loneliness of those who choose to see clearly."^[17] Archika Khurana of The Times of India rayed it 3/5 stars and said that "A sincere, slow-burn sequel elevated by Nawazuddin Siddiqui, but short on the tension that made the original memorable."^[18] Lachmi Deb Roy of Firstpost gave 4 stars out of 5 and said that "Netflix’s ‘Raat Akeli Hai’ 2 doesn’t divert from keeping the writing immersive and the best part of this film is that it never thins down.^[19]

• Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders at IMDb
• Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders on Netflix
• Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders at Bollywood Hungama