Manoj Bajpayee's Gajab Raat Heads to Netflix Oct. 23

Manoj Bajpayee's thriller, announced earlier as Ghooskhor Pandat, now has a new title, a trailer and a date. Gajab Raat premieres on Netflix on Oct. 23, according to Netflix's own announcement and The Hindu. It is a single-night story about a cop who must choose between personal gain and doing what he believes is right.

What Netflix says

Netflix describes Gajab Raat as a suspense thriller that unfolds over one night, in which one decision sets off a chain of events with far-reaching consequences. It is produced by Neeraj Pandey's Friday Film Works and directed by Ritesh Shah, who is making his directorial debut after working as a writer.

The cast, per Netflix, is Manoj Bajpayee, Saqib Saleem, Akshay Oberoi, Divya Dutta, Kiku Sharda and Nushrratt Bharuccha. The film continues Neeraj Pandey's work with the platform after the Khakee series, Sikandar Ka Muqaddar and Taskaree, and reunites him with Bajpayee after nearly a decade.

The new title

The Hindu reports that the film was first called Ghooskhor Pandat when it was announced at a Netflix slate event. The paper says the name was changed after uproar from certain groups over its alleged insult to a community. The Hindu's report is the only source we found that links the rename to that reaction, and Netflix's statement does not mention it.

The Hindu also says Bajpayee plays a cop investigating a murder, and that the trailer points to a mystery with multiple stakeholders in the crime.

What the makers said

Pandey said in a statement that an engaging story should leave viewers thinking, and called Gajab Raat "a thriller where the choices that people make push them to a point where there are no easy answers." Bajpayee said he has always been drawn to characters who are not easy to define. Shah said the single-night structure gave the team a chance to build urgency and keep raising the stakes.

A debut behind the camera

Netflix stresses that Shah is moving from writing to directing with this film. Pandey called introducing him as a director one of the exciting parts of the project, and Shah described making his directorial debut on Netflix with a Neeraj Pandey film as an enriching experience.

A reunion with history

The Hindu notes that Pandey and Bajpayee worked together earlier on the crime thrillers Special 26 in 2013 and Aiyaary in 2018. That history helps explain why the project has drawn attention. For Bajpayee, the film fits a pattern of morally layered roles that he describes himself as seeking out.

One scheduling note: Udta Teer, the Ayushmann Khurrana comedy, opens in cinemas on Oct. 23, according to the Hindustan Times. Gajab Raat is a streaming release, so it is not tied to theatre screens.

What we could not confirm

We could not confirm the film's running time, because neither Netflix nor The Hindu lists it. We could not confirm that the title change was a response to community objections beyond The Hindu's account. We did not see the trailer ourselves and relied on the descriptions published by Netflix and The Hindu. Netflix has not said whether the film will be dubbed or subtitled in additional languages.

Sources

*Cover photo: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Wikimedia Commons, *[*https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Manoj_Bajpai_at_52nd_IFFI.jpg*](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Manoj_Bajpai_at_52nd_IFFI.jpg)* (GODL-India).*