Arvind (Sunny Deol) is called in to investigate the gruesome murder of film critic Nitin Shrivastav (Pyarali Nayani), who was found dead in his bathroom, and his body covered in deep, carefully arranged cuts. The search for clues quickly becomes a hunt for a serial killer as the following week, after the new films have their reviews published in the papers, another critic is found dead. The entire industry is on edge, including Nila (Shreya Dhanwanthary), an up-and-coming journalist with a passion for film and dreams of writing criticism for the news outlets as the killer continues to stalk the popular voices of the Mumbai critical circles. 

Chup is a fast-paced thriller written and directed by R. Balki with assistance on the page from Raja Sen and Rishi Virmani. It is not just a crime thriller, Chup has something to say about the nature of film criticism and the paradox created by the positive or negative judgement of art effecting a film’s success as a business investment. Balki further explores this concept as the film acts as a way to honor the late Guru Dutt, an Indian filmmaker whose commercially and critically panned – and highly personal – film, Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) plays a key role in the crimes presented here. 

The film feels like a campier, distant cousin to Se7en (1995) in the elaborate and intention-driven staging of the various murderers, but whereas Fincher kept audiences guessing, Balki and company are not very interested in shaking anyone off the tail of the story. Early on in the film, Nila meets Danny (Dulquer Salmaan), a local, solitary florist who keeps himself company by talking to himself. Before the film breaks for intermission, it is revealed that Danny is the hand behind the murders for those in the audience who were convinced his peculiar ticks were red herrings. Given the almost immediate feeling of unease the filmmakers bring to the scenes with Danny, he is prime suspect number one, but it does not become frustrating to be so ahead of the police on the because the script knows that the real mystery, and the suspense, is how will Arvind get back on track before Danny strikes again after already ruling him out of the list of suspects. 

For most of the film, a rather breezy feeling 135 minutes, audiences are following two narratives that are tilted inward by the slightest degree so that they are not running totally perpendicular. As we wait for them to finally intersect, we split our time between Arvind who is up against the clock before the CBI takes over the case and the budding romance between Nila and Danny. Like with Danny’s eventually confirmed guilt, the script does not hide what its plans are and so every time Nila and Danny are together it oscillates between the film magic of a meet cute moment and the sinister undercurrent which Danny brings to the story. Balki seems well aware of this dance as he allows his cast to really ham it up at times to keep the tone light so that the jokes in the more character driven parts of the script can still feel at home in the overall film, and while the murders are all quite gruesome and bloody, they never feel too scary. Balki is able to keep a sliver of artificiality in place throughout Chup which demonstrates not just a total understanding of the material, but also helps to add context to the central question of how audiences react, interact, and interpret what they see on screen. 

The most important thing about Chup is that everyone involved from in front of to behind the camera appears to be having fun. It is a wild and outlandish concept that, even through its more absurd and showy sequences, it remains a fun little mystery to solve. The score which plays under much of the film helps to strike that balance with its more sweeping romantic themes, tinkering and suspenseful tones, and the whir of a film projector, too. Its lack of self-seriousness is what allows audiences to more actively engage with Chup as it does not feel like Balki is talking down to us, or that he is so stuck in his opinion that the film will not allow for multiple points of view. Sure, it has some blunt and cumbersome delivery, especially towards the end when criminal psychologist Zenobia Shroff (Pooja Bhatt) explains her thoughts on the case, or earlier on when Amitabh Bachchan, who is playing a version of himself, comes out with his stance on film critisim in the larger industry picture. Through it all, Balki still allows audience to come to their own ethical and moral conclsuions about film criticism, or if they would rather, ignore all the philosophical musings and just enjoy an easily digestible crime thriller.  

Chup is a highly entertaining film with huge western influence despite being steeped in Indian cinema. Balki does help to inform audiences who may not be aware of some of the references to Dutt’s breadth of work, specifically his final film, that plays such a pivotal part of the plot. In its own way, Chup is a celebration of filmmaking and filmmakers who pour their heart and soul into their work. It calls to light the strange relationship that critics and directors, actors, and studios all have with each other in a creative and broadly approachable way. Chup follows a similar enough framework to a creative’s work being used as the blueprint for a crime, but spins it around so that it feels new and exciting, coupled with the dynamic energy of the cast that relishes in getting to play these characters, Chup is a real crowd pleaser… with a great script!