Neeyat first look: Vidya Balan plays a detective in her first theatrical release in four years

Shortly after dropping a teaser of her upcoming film Neeyat, Vidya Balan also unveiled her look as a ‘not-so-classic’ detective from Anu Menon’s murder mystery.

Vidya Balan’s look
The actor is seen sporting bangs, and wearing a green shirt, maroon sweater and a brown overcoat. She stands next to a mirror that reflects the suspects, presumably a family of four, as she stares at them with suspicion.

Agatha Christie vibes
There are a couple of elements that lend Neeyat the old-world charm of an Agatha Christie murder mystery. Firstly, the clothes that Vidya and the suspects wear are layered and full of fir, an Agatha Christie trademark. Also, the interiors, particularly the wooden shelves with books in Vidya’s background further lend the film a classic Agatha Christie murder mystery vibe.

Not her first detective role
Neeyat isn’t the first time Vidya will be seen as a detective. She played a desi detective in Bobby Jasoos (2014), set in Hyderabad, which failed at the box office. But we’ve often seen Vidya investigate on screen in different avatars, from Sujoy Ghosh’s 2012 cult film Kahaani, Ribhu Dasgupta’s Te3n (2014), or most recently, Amit V Masurkar’s 2021 forest thriller Sherni.

Vidya’s first theatrical release post pandemic
Neeyat will mark Vidya Balan’s long-awaited return to the cinemas after four years. Her last theatrical release was Jagan Shakti’s 2019 sci-fi ensemble Mission Mangal. Her last solo theatrical outing, however, was Suresh Triveni’s 2017 blockbuster Tumhari Sulu.

Since 2019, Vidya has only been seen in films that premiered directly on Prime Video India, including Anu Menon’s Shakuntala Devi (2020), Sherni and most recently, Suresh Triveni’s Jalsa last year. Vidya will soon be seen in Lovers, a romantic comedy also starring Pratik Gandhi, Ileana D’Cruz and Sendhil Ramamurthy.

About Neeyat
The murder mystery is directed by Anu Menon, who previously collaborated with Vidya on Shakuntala Devi, the biopic of the mathematics icon. Neeyat also stars Ram Kapoor, Rahul Bose, Neeraj Kabi, Shahana Goswami, Amrita Puri, Dipannita Sharma, Niki Walia, Shashank Arora, Prajakta Koli and Danesh Razvi. It’s co-written by Anu, Priya Venkataraman, Advaita Kala and Girvani Dhyani, with dialogues by Kausar Munir. It’s produced by Vikram Malhotra’s Abduntia Entertainment.