Nicky Vicky Bhagnani Films’ Nikita Roy (UA) is a murder mystery. It is also a film about rationalism versus superstition.
Nikita Roy (Sonakshi Sinha) is devastated on learning that her dear brother, Dr. Sanal Roy (Arjun Rampal in a special appearance) has committed suicide in London. She is part of the International Rationalist Community and has written a book to dispel the myth about superstitious beliefs. On reaching London from India, Nikita is convinced that her brother was murdered. With detectives and the police unwilling to buy her story, she takes it upon herself to solve the murder mystery. She only has the support of her ex-boyfriend, Jolly (Suhail Nayyar). She pieces together clues she gets and the recorded voice messages of her brother, to unravel a horrific drama that was played out in eliminating her brother. As she digs deeper, she realises that Amar Dev (Paresh Rawal), who heads Tru Faith Foundation, which propagates superstition, was responsible for Sanal’s death. How she unearths the truth and, in the process, exposes the racket run by Amar Dev, forms the crux of the story.
Pavan Kirpalani’s original story has been adapted by Kush S. Sinha. The story is so tame and dull that the excitement of a murder mystery is completely missing. The original screenplay by Pavan Kirpalani, with additional screenplay by Neel Mohanty, Kush S. Sinha and Ankur Vijay Takrani, is far from being engaging. For one, it moves at such a slow pace that it takes away the inherent thrill of a murder mystery. Also, the screenplay is an exercise in convenient writing so that the audience gives up in sheer exasperation very early into the drama. Nikita has recorded messages from Sanal in her possession but why she doesn’t tell the detectives/police about that is simply not explained. In other words, this is a forced twist just so that the viewers feel sorry that nobody is helping her. But they won’t feel sorry for Nikita for the simple reason that she somewhere acted so stupidly that the police/detectives would feel inclined not to help her. After a point of time, it almost appears as if Nikita’s main mission was to expose the scam behind the cult following of Amar Dev rather than to solve the murder mystery. Of course, as it turns out, the two issues are inter-related but still, the feeling of one taking precedence over the other does not speak well for the writers and their direction. There are other childish scenes like Nikita and Jolly purposely rushing out of Amar Dev’s sermon in a tearing hurry rather than doing so very silently so as to not underline that they were there to gather evidence. Similarly, why Amar Dev lets Nikita and Jolly go scot-free after he has captured them is not clear. Since the bonding between Nikita and brother Sanal is sought to be established through dialogues and photographs rather than through scenes, the audience never feels empathy for Sanal and, therefore, never roots for Nikita in her quest to seek justice. The whole point of psychotropic substance and antidote is so technical and has been so shoddily written that the viewers won’t even understand it well enough. It is also not clear why Amar Dev’s disciples plead with him to save Nikita in the pre-climax. The drama ends quite abruptly after a scene which follows the climax. In other words, there was no need for a scene after the climax.
Belal Khalique’s dialogues, with additional dialogues by Kush S.Sinha, are very ordinary.
Sonakshi Sinha is average in the title role. Paresh Rawal goes through his role mechanically and delivers a performance which lacks conviction. It seems to the viewers that the actor was not convinced about his own character. Suhail Nayyar looks handsome and does an earnest job as Jolly. Arjun Rampal is ordinary in a special appearance as Dr. Sanal Roy. Kallirroi Tziafeta lends routine support as Freya. Prakhar Saxena passes muster as the demon. Supreet Bedi is unimpressive as Tina. Luv S. Sinha is so-so as the shadow. Others are barely passable.
Kush S. Sinha’s direction is not up to the mark. For the script he selected, he needed to have made a fast-paced thriller. Abhinav Shekhar’s music is fairly melodious but it adds precious little to the film as the songs are not at all popular. Lyrics (Abhinav Shekhar) are nothing to shout about. Amar Mohile’s background music is unimpactful. Anshul Chobey’s cinematography is of a fine standard. Ian Van Temperley’s action and stunt scenes are not very thrilling. Sunil Nigvekar’s production designing, and Ganesh Dhepe’s art direction are okay. Ritesh Soni’s editing leaves something to be desired.
On the whole, Nikita Roy will go largely unnoticed as it will be a non-starter. It also does not have anything which could see its collections increase as the days progress.
Released on 18-7-’25 at Metro Inox (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay thru Karmik Films. Publicity: so-so. Opening: weak. …….Also released all over. Opening was dull everywhere.