Nayyi Navelli is a comedy horror film written by Himanshu Sharma & Divya Nidhi Sharma and directed by Balaji Mohan under the banner of Amazon MGM Studios and Colour Yellow Productions. The film marks Tamil filmmaker Balaji Mohan’s directorial debut in Bollywood. Nayyi Navelli was released in theatres on 16 October 2026.
Star Cast:
Yami Gautam as Mohini
Adinath Kothare as Raja Awasthi
Anurag Thakur as Bantu
Mita Vashisht as Pinky Bua
Sonal Jha as Sumitra Tai
Sunita Rajwar as Asha Devi
Rajesh Dubeay as Tau Ji
Aaditya Kulshreshth as IAS Vishal
Prateek Pachauri as Punnu Chacha
Sushmita Mukherjee as Dadi
Akshat Singh as Gaggu
Jacqueline Fernandez in guest appreance
MOVIE REVIEW: Nayyi Navelli is a missed opportunity that offers occasional entertainment but ultimately disappoints due to weak writing, uninspiring direction and poor execution. It has few entertaining moments, but the overall experience remains below average. It is a folklore-based horror-comedy that starts with an interesting premise but struggles to translate its potential into an engaging cinematic experience.
The folklore-based premise offers enough scope for an entertaining blend of horror, comedy and drama, but the execution falls short of expectations. What could have been an intriguing and engaging story turns into a rather uneven affair because of a weak script and a screenplay that struggles to maintain momentum. The narrative begins to lose steam quite early, and the second half proves particularly disappointing.
Ultimately, the film’s biggest drawback is the gap between the potential of its central idea and what eventually unfolds on screen. Some sequences also come across as childish, making it difficult for the film to establish the right balance between folklore, horror and comedy. Balaji Mohan’s direction fails to bring sufficient energy to the narrative. Despite having an interesting concept to work with, the filmmaker fails to translate it into a consistently engaging experience.
Yami Gautam rises above the mediocre script. Despite the limitations of the script, she delivers a decent performance. Her performance is a reminder of how a capable actor can rise above mediocre material. Addinath M. Kothare, Anurag Thakur, Sunita Rajwar and Akshat Singh deliver good performances. The funniest portions of the film involve Aaditya Kulshreshth, Mita Vashisht and Jacqueline Fernandez. Their sequence provide relief from the otherwise uneven storytelling.
The cinematography is satisfactory and does its job without being particularly memorable. It supports the film’s atmosphere, but the visual presentation could have been more effective in strengthening the folklore and horror elements. The VFX could certainly have been better, especially considering the scope of the film’s concept. The editing is another area that needed improvement.
Nayyi Navelli Movie Rating:
Direction 1.5/5
Acting 2.5/5
Dialogues 2/5
Story 2/5
Screenplay 2/5
Overall Hit ya Flop Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars (Below Average)
Not Recommended 👎🏻
