Manoj Bajpayee plays a corrupt police officer whose plans for a lucrative night take an unexpected turn when he gets caught up in a global conspiracy in Delhi, in the trailer of Neeraj Pandey’s Gajab Raat.
Dropped by the makers on Thursday, the two-minute-20-second-long video opens with Bajpayee’s Nirvit receiving a call asking him to reach a place called Plaza, where a wounded girl has been thrown out of a moving car.
The subsequent scenes follow a series of events surrounding the identity of the injured girl and the circumstances of a murder. Saqib Saleem, Akshay Oberoi, Divya Dutta, Kiku Sharda and Nushrratt Bharuccha also feature in the video.
Caught between personal gain and his conscience, Nirvit faces a series of difficult choices over the course of a single night. “Anek kahaaniya, anek kirdaar aur sirf ek raat to disclose the truth. Watch Gajab Raat, out 23 October, only on Netflix,” streaming platform Netflix wrote on Instagram.
Gajab Raat is directed by Ritesh Shah, who has co-written the story with Pandey, and is produced under Pandey’s banner, Friday Filmworks.
The upcoming thriller drama, which was previously titled Ghooskhor Pandat, faced objections from the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) earlier this year over concerns that the title could disrupt social harmony and unity.
In a letter addressed to Netflix and other OTT platforms, including Amazon Prime, Hotstar, ZEE5 and SonyLIV, the cine workers’ body said, “FWICE and all its affiliated associations strongly object to the use of this title, as it appears to single out and target a particular community and its traditional means of livelihood in a derogatory and offensive manner.”
The film’s announcement on February 3 led to backlash on social media, with many calling the title “casteist” and offensive.
The controversy also led to an FIR with Hazratganj police station in Uttar Pradesh, while the NHRC issued a notice to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting following a complaint, as per PTI.
All promotional content for Ghooskhor Pandat and its teaser were removed from the internet following a directive from the Centre.
Set to premiere on Netflix on October 23, Gajab Raat reunites Bajpayee and Pandey nearly a decade after their last collaboration.