That Chup has managed to contain itself is proven by the fact that I could write this review without shaky hands, without constantly looking behind me, wondering if there is a hooded figure ready to pounce with a knife. It is only a film, the making clearly says, about a psychopath who kills film critics, for the reviews that they write. Thankfully it is not shot like a documentary, which could have given you the jitters. Plus they give you stars like Dulquer Salmaan, Sunny Deol and Pooja Bhatt, so definitely, not real. One can imagine how it must have begun as a one-line plot – an artist who kills reviewers – and then developed into a well-thought-out script, with the how and the why and the who all sewn up together. But somewhere in the sewing up, in its structuring and performances, what began as a great idea gets a little lost.
It is not exactly a suspense thriller, since parts of the whodunit are already given away in the full title: Chup: Revenge of the Artist. And before the interval, you are told who did it, though the police, led by Sunny Deol, are still groping in the dark. It is R Balki’s story and direction, but interestingly, one of his co-writers is Raja Sen, a writer who is also a film critic. The other is writer Rishi Virmani. You can imagine the perspectives of writer, director and critic coming into play as they put the three heads together. What comes to mind is a scene in the film, where those working in the film industry and the reviewers of various media come together to discuss the serial killings. In a few minutes, they are at each other’s throats.
The beginning is great, you get the spookiness in the air as a woman gets out of a rickshaw, finds the lift jammed and climbs up eight floors to an apartment to find no one answering the door. If you are the kind who prepares for a scene that is expected to shock you, now is when you cover your ears for fear of sudden loud sounds or figures emerging out of nowhere. The scene ends in a scream (not yours) and the first body is found. It is a cruel, cruel killing. Nearly naked, an overweight man is placed on his toilet seat, with cuts made symmetrically all across his body. Oh boy, you think, all that because he gave bad reviews to films?
But snatching you from the thick of it, the film takes you to a flower shop and the man who owns it: out comes Dulquer with a beehive of curls on his head, looking fresh and cheerful, and taking two cups of tea at a cute garden. Just as you come to terms with this suddenly forced parallel storyline, you are given the heroine: Nila, a young entertainment reporter with a special passion for cinema, played by Shreya Dhanwanthary. To be fair, her character is nicely written. And the encounters between the florist and Nila, who has to frequently buy flowers for her mother, are cheesy, relieving distractions.
Watch: Trailer of the film
Not that parallel storylines don’t work in murder mysteries or psychological thrillers. They do, as long as you are not jolted awake each time the shift happens, like a constant reminder that this is a movie, this is fiction. Perhaps for the same reason, Dulquer’s and initially Shreya’s characters are shown as prone to talking to oneself. In Dulquer’s case, this is at first strange, but soon becomes a very interesting character trait. A constant conversation going on, just like it does inside many of our heads. Only in his case, the conversation is loud and structured, like it is between two different people. Remember the two teas he takes? It isn’t spooky, just interesting. And a nice tool for character building. Only, his loud laughs stand out, not suiting the scheme of things, whichever way you want to read it.
The other storyline, of the killing and the investigation, has a nicely matured Sunny Deol leading the show. Rajeev Ravindranathan makes an adorable sidekick. And Pooja Bhatt as Zenobia, the criminal psychologist, joins midway. Their lines are often superfluous, out of character, and not creating excitement the way crime thrillers are meant to. But the connections they make between the killings, the clues leading to the method of each murder, picking on the signs and symbols are all neatly written.
Saranya Ponvannan, as Nila’s mother, also plays a very interesting character, not at all your typical concerned and soft mother. The love between all the key characters comes through whiffs of fresh flowers and the music of black and white Hindi cinema. Again, the writer combo makes beautiful connections. They also pay homage to Guru Dutt in a fitting way.
These are expert hands writing and making the film. So when you find the diversions not smooth enough, you assume that Balki and team perhaps meant it to be so, to snap you out of your reveries about the film. To tell you, no one should kill another for a difference of opinion, that it should only be a plot inside a film. Not real.
Disclaimer: This review was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the series/film. TNM Editorial is independent of any business relationship the organisation may have with producers or any other members of its cast or crew.