Mahika Banerji

Raat Akeli Hai packages Jatil as a 'knight in shining armor' for exposing the darkness underlying the respectful facade of the Thakur family, but we never see Jatil undergo any internal character development or acknowledge that his thoughts towards women need reform.

The fact that the film indulges in Shakuntala Devi’s domestic conflicts more than it does in her extra ordinary intellect is very telling of the skewed vision with which we look at women and motherhood.

This is a narrative based on a ‘true story’ as seen through the eyes of a daughter, that is, Shakuntala Devi’s daughter Anupama Banerji. In doing so, unfortunately, this film has reduced the life of the late Guinness-record-holding 'human calculator' to just her motherhood.