AAKHRI RIDE: MUMBAI AFTER DARK

by Arnab Banerjee November 5 2026, 12:00 am Estimated Reading Time: 4 mins, 35 secs

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Arnab Banerjee reviews Aakhri Ride, a Mumbai-set short that blends urban noir, dark comedy and supernatural horror while tracing a migrant driver’s desperation, moral compromise and uneasy encounter with the unknown, with mixed results.

Written and directed by: Vijesh Rajan and Yashoda Parthasarathy

Cast: Chandan Roy, Aamir Dalvi and Dheer Hira

Runtime: 24 minutes

Rating: ★★★½☆

Available on: YouTube

Aman, a sleep-deprived migrant worker and ride-share driver navigating the unforgiving streets of Mumbai, is caught in the relentless grind of urban survival. Burdened by financial insecurity, an exploitative employer and the pressing obligation of arranging dowry money for his sister’s wedding, he finds himself pushed to the brink of desperation. With little left to lose, Aman contemplates stealing his employer’s taxi and making a desperate bid for freedom. But what is intended to be his final ride takes an unexpectedly sinister turn when his last passenger turns out to be a chudail—a demonic witch whose appearance transforms an already precarious night into an unsettling encounter with the supernatural.

When Anurag Kashyap announced the film on social media, writing, “Proud to present this dynamic, funny, thrilling short by Vijesh Rajan and Yashoda Parthasarthy, the first-time filmmaking duo,” it immediately suggested an intriguing cinematic proposition.

Titled Aakhri Ride, the short film, written and directed by Vijesh Rajan and Yashoda Parthasarathy, attempts an audacious fusion of urban noir, dark comedy, crime thriller and supernatural horror. Set against the nocturnal landscape of Mumbai, it uses the seemingly mundane routine of a gig worker to explore desperation, greed, moral compromise and the unexpected manifestations of fear. The result is an entertainingly eccentric, genre-defying experiment, albeit one whose narrative ambitions occasionally exceed its execution.

A Migrant Driver on the Edge

At the centre of the film is Aman Yadav, played with considerable conviction by Chandan Roy, best known for his performance in Panchayat. Dishevelled, exhausted and perpetually sleep-deprived, Aman embodies the precarious existence of the migrant gig worker, condemned to an existence governed by deadlines, payment targets and the unrelenting demands of the urban economy. His employer subjects him to constant reprimands for failing to meet financial quotas, while the absence of a secure home compels him to use the very vehicle he drives as his makeshift sleeping quarters. In one particularly evocative image, he rests his weary feet against the car window, transforming the taxi into both his workplace and his temporary refuge. It is a poignant visual encapsulation of the migrant experience: a life perpetually in transit, without the luxury of belonging or repose.

The film establishes Aman's circumstances through a brisk succession of details that illuminate the economic and psychological pressures governing his existence. His sister’s impending marriage and the expectation of dowry further intensify his predicament, turning an already oppressive financial situation into an almost unbearable moral burden. His desperation is therefore not merely an individual failing but also a reflection of the structural inequalities and social obligations that circumscribe the lives of countless precariously employed workers. The film's most compelling dimension emerges from this intersection of personal desperation and systemic exploitation.

Interestingly, Aman appears to be accompanied by competing voices in his head, each representing conflicting impulses, anxieties and moral calculations. Their presence lends the narrative an almost allegorical dimension, as though his conscience has fractured under the weight of his circumstances. The film subsequently takes a sharp, unexpected turn, abandoning the familiar trajectory of a straightforward crime narrative for something considerably stranger and more unpredictable.

When Urban Noir Turns Supernatural

The central suspense revolves around Aman's determination to complete his final ride before making his escape. Yet the mysterious woman who enters his taxi, with her spectral eyes and dishevelled appearance, unsettles the fragile logic of his carefully contemplated plan. Her presence introduces an element of supernatural menace, while simultaneously destabilising the film's tonal and generic boundaries. Positioned as a Halloween release and unfolding during a dark October night, Aakhri Ride deliberately toys with the conventions and expectations of horror cinema.

However, judged purely as a horror film, it remains a relatively modest and occasionally underwhelming exercise. Its supernatural turn does not always achieve the desired degree of terror, and the eventual reorientation of the narrative feels somewhat awkward rather than genuinely revelatory. Nevertheless, the film derives much of its appeal from its refusal to remain confined within a recognisable genre. Noir-inflected visual flourishes, absurdist verbal exchanges, physical comedy and intermittent moments of nocturnal dread coexist in an unusual cinematic amalgam.

Much of the film's kinetic energy also owes itself to Beltangdy's brisk and assured editing, which maintains narrative momentum while carefully negotiating the delicate balance between suspense and absurdity. Chandan Roy anchors the proceedings with an involving performance, lending emotional credibility to a character whose predicament might otherwise have been reduced to a convenient narrative device.

An Uneasy Genre-Bending Ride

Ultimately, Aakhri Ride is less a conventional horror film than an offbeat cinematic experiment that derives its identity from generic ambiguity. Its strengths lie in its inventive premise, atmospheric nocturnal setting and perceptive portrayal of economic vulnerability; its weaknesses emerge from an uneven tonal balance and a supernatural twist that does not entirely fulfil its dramatic promise. Yet, for all its imperfections, the film possesses an undeniable eccentricity. It is neither quite horror nor comedy, neither an out-and-out thriller nor a conventional horror-comedy. Instead, it occupies an intriguing interstitial space where urban desperation encounters supernatural absurdity, making for a curious, occasionally compelling and undeniably unconventional cinematic ride.