Today's job of film reviewing is weird. There is a significant discrepancy between critics' and moviegoers' ratings of some of the most recent blockbuster films, whether they are Bollywood or not, according to a brief scan at their Rotten Tomatoes pages. Trolls will undoubtedly spew insults if critics decide to give a well-liked movie a bad review on social media sites, especially Twitter; this is now a given. There isn't much trust going on here. And R Balki makes use of it in his most recent film, "Chup: Revenge of the Artist." Balki deserves praise for consistently attempting something new with each picture. Even if the tests he conducts are not always successful, he deserves credit because most of his contemporaries employ pre-made formulas to big bucks.
Even though the execution of "Chup" is poor, the premise alone makes it worth the price of admission. The movie does enough things right for it to be frequently engaging and never dull. If we regard movies to be works of art, it will also undoubtedly spark a discussion on how to evaluate art, which is what the writers (Balki, Raja Sen, and Rishi Virmani) probably wanted.
On Mumbai's rain-soaked streets, a serial killer is at large, and this one is very picky. Only cinema critics are murdered by him (or her?). And he operates in a violent, almost vindictive manner. The bodies are discovered in various ways, including with their major internal organs removed in one case and with their tracks chopped in half, as if by a drugged-up wolverine. The murders seem to be metaphorical echoes of the reviews.
The perpetrator does have one advantage. They are honest. They also target reviewers who, in their opinion, are too generous with their star ratings. The terrified critics lavishly acclaim the pricey show "Kalinga," which is barely more than a nod to "Kalank," and one of them is ultimately killed.
Who is this choosy murderer, then? Is it a frustrated director? or a follower of theirs? Or simply a sociopath who thinks there shouldn't be any film critics. Inspector General Arvind Mathur (a pleasantly understated Sunny Deol) is given the task of responding to this question.
There are, of course, many positive aspects to this film, which is why, despite its flaws, I noted before that it never becomes dull. All of the performances are superb. Dhanwanthary, Salmaan, and Deol are all excellent actors. In keeping with the storyline of the film, Mumbai is shown by cinematographer Vishal Sinha as being much more picturesque than it is during the monsoon season. The music by Aman Pant complements the gorgeous pictures perfectly. Every now and again, the film includes great Hindi tunes, which brought to mind "Bombay Rose," a magnificent hand-animated film that, in my opinion, is the best homage to Bollywood.
