Amazon MGM Studios and Colour Yellow Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.’s Nayyi Navelli (UA) is the story of a newlywed, Mohini (Yami Gautam Dhar), who is presumed by her brother-in-law to be a daayan.
Mohini falls in love with Raja Awasthi (Adinath Kothare) and gets married to him. Soon after marriage, Raja’s brother, Bantu Awasthi (Anurag Thakur), announces to the joint family that sister-in-law Mohini is a daayan. But the truth is probably not that. The real story is equally, if not more, shocking. Raja’s family is devastated when Mohini reveals the truth and also the reason for the state of affairs. How things are corrected forms the crux of the story.
Himanshu Sharma has written a story which is hotchpotch and not only unconvincing but also boring. Divy Nidhi Sharma’s screenplay is childish, dull and far from entertaining. The reference to the kaal sheel stone, which should’ve evoked excitement among the audience, fails to evoke any kind of emotions. The references to Lord Rama and Ravana also leave the viewers unconcerned so much so that they quite alienate themselves from the unfolding drama and watch the proceedings like silent spectators rather than becoming a part of the drama. Another drawback of the screenplay is that the sequences are so lengthy that they end up testing the audience’s patience. It would not be wrong to say that the screenplay looks like a job shoddily done.
Even though it is basically the story of Mohini and Raja, a young and newly-married couple, there is hardly any chemistry (or romance) shown between the two of them. Likewise for the large joint family! Members of the family hardly have any chemistry between themselves. It, therefore, appears as if characters have been added randomly without taking pains to establish a warm relationship or bonding between the family members. Besides, the actors playing members of the joint family have hardly any worthwhile scenes and hence fail to register any impact. The climax may appeal to the more devout viewers because of the references to Lord Rama, Ravana and Dassera, but even they wouldn’t be ecstatic. Divy Nidhi Sharma’s dialogues are average.
Yami Gautam Dhar is not in form. As Mohini, she goes through her role mechanically rather than getting into the skin of the character. Adinath Kothare is so-so as Raja Awasthi. Anurag Thakur lends routine support as Bantu Awasthi. His lisping is irritating. Frankly, he has been given more than he can chew. Sunita Rajwar is quite good as Raja’s mother, Asha Devi. Sushmita Mukherjee provides ordinary support as Dadi. Suneel Sinha is okay as S.K. Awasthi. As bua, Mita Vasisht is far from funny and so her comedy falls flat on its face. Her dialogue delivery (while eating paan) gets on the viewer’s nerves. Aditya Kulshreshth hardly impresses as Vishal. Prateek Pachori is alright as Pannu chacha. Babita Pandey passes muster as Rekha chachi. Akshat Singh is average as Gaggu. Sonal Jha is alright as Sumitra taiji. Rajesh Dubey is ordinary as tauji. Neeraj Singh (as Chandu), Ajay Pal (as Badke pandit), Aan Tiwari (as Bablu), Ravindra Singh (as Bhaiya), Sunayana Krashanavanshi (as bhabhi), Vinod Kori (as bhaiya), Anjana Makwana (as bhabhi), Harsh Daud (as Saxena), Jatin Sarin (as Susheel), Aryan Bajaj (as Lord Rama), and the others lend routine support. Jacqueline Fernandez adds star value in a brief guest appearance.
Balaji Mohan’s direction is weak. G.V. Prakash Kumar’s music is fair. Vayu Srivastava’s lyrics are okay. Vijay A. Ganguly’s choreography is just about functional. G.V. Prakash Kumar’s background music ought to have been much more impactful. Rishi Punjabi’s cinematography is okay. Computer graphics and special effects are below the mark. Mahesh Mathew and Sharad Shetty’s action and stunt scenes are routine. Ravi Srivastava’s production designing is so-so. Sumeet Kotian’s editing is loose.
On the whole, Nayyi Navelli is a poor fare and will, therefore, flop at the ticket windows.
Released on 16-10-’26 at Inox (daily 7 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay thru PVR Inox Pictures. Publicity: good. Opening: dull. …….Also released all over. Opening was below the mark at most of the places.