Honey Trehan on ‘Raat Akeli Hai 2’: Don’t want to make crime-thrillers just to titillate audiences

Five years after his nearly obsessive quest to solve a murder mystery in the visually enticing Raat Akeli Hai, Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s Jatil Yadav returns for another complex case in the sequel, Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders. The first part was a profusely entertaining debut by director Honey Trehan. There was a certain novelistic charm to the story written by Smita Singh, which Trehan treated with style and substance. The sequel seems to further increase the stakes as Jatil deals with a mass murder this time. Trehan reveals that there were no plans to make a sequel originally. He even prefers not to call it a sequel in the first place. “This is not a sequel; it is another chapter, a different story altogether,” he says.

Interestingly, the first part was actually written by Smita as her diploma film when she was studying at the coveted Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune. Around the same time, Trehan was on the lookout for stories to make his first film. That’s when an agent sent across a thirty-page script of Raat Akeli Hai to the filmmaker. His quest for finding writers ended when he read the entire script and was instantly amused by the writing. “Then I met Smita, and she came on board. That’s how the journey started,” Trehan recalls.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui (left) and Honey Trehan (right)
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders also brings back Nawazuddin and Radhika Apte, who brought a striking authenticity to their scenes in the first part. Radhika feels that the process becomes easier when sharing the screen space with someone she has worked with before. “It becomes more comfortable as you are open to trying new things and making mistakes without hesitation. When you know that you are not being tested, you are more prone to improvise and try something new,” Radhika says. For her, it is important to know the people she is working with. “You have to be relaxed to work, and that doesn’t happen with new people instantly,” she adds.

Nawazuddin agrees, saying that there is a natural tuning between him and Radhika. “After working together before, you get to know more nuances about the other person and what they can improvise. So, even I can be prepared for that. Working with Radhika has been quite fulfilling, as there is a certain comfort between us. When I look at some of our old scenes together, I realise how good things have automatically come about,” he says.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Radhika Apte in ‘Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders’
| Photo Credit:
Netflix

Nawazuddin employs a distinct change in his mannerisms as he plays Jatil Yadav with a firm demeanour. The actor has played a cop before in films like Kahaani (2012), Raees (2017), and more recently, in Rautu Ka Raaz (2024). However, even as the uniform remains the same, he brings out a different personality from each character. While Kahaani and Raees feature him as a charismatic, tough and angry cop, his portrayal in Rautu Ka Raaz is more laid-back with a touch of humour in the dialect. “Doing a similar role in myriad ways is a sign of versatility. It is no fun to do different roles in the same manner. For instance, I have also played a gangster before in Gangs of Wasseypur, Raman Raghav and Sacred Games. But none of them were nearly similar to each other. That’s what craft is all about, and it is a big challenge to differentiate your performances across films,” he says.

Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders also stars Rajat Kapoor, Deepti Naval, Ila Arun, Revathi and Chitrangada Singh in pivotal roles. The world has seemingly turned darker and far more menacing this time, with multiple layers to the mystery. There is still a challenge to bring newness to the narrative, given how popular the genre has become in the streaming space in recent years. It is not much of a problem for Trehan, however, as he is not an avid consumer of films and shows.

“I don’t even remember what I watched last. I just maintain my sanity by working on stories that I want to tell. So, while there would be a lot of crime thrillers being made but I am really unaware,” he quips. For Trehan, the focus has been on making his characters and their world stand out, along with having a clear idea of why he is telling the story. “I don’t want to make a crime-thriller just to titillate the audience,” he says and concludes, “Through the story, I want to talk about something. My film is like a bridge between me and my audience, where I am giving a part of me to them. If I don’t have something to say, I don’t see a reason to make a film.”