'Blackmail' Film Review: Irrfan Khan's film is witty and wicked

Blackmail (Comic-thriller)

Critics Rating: 4/5

Cast: Irrfan, Kirti Kulhari, Arunoday Singh, Omi Vaidya, Divya Dutta and Anuja Sathe

Direction: Abhinay Deo

Duration: 2 hours, 19 minutes

Language: Hindi (U/A)

Story: 

Dev (Irrfan) and his wife Reena (Kirti Kulhari) are in a loveless marriage. It's the typical seven-year itch. He gets his 'r****s' off by staying late in office, she is in an extra-marital affair with an ex, Ranjeet (Arunoday Singh).

And when Dev discovers the affair, he decides to blackmail his wife's lover, who in turn blackmails her.

Review: 

Abhinay Deo is an ad-cum-feature filmmaker whose cinema explores the edgy-slightly dark side of life. A fan of Hollywood's Coen Brothers -- Joel and Ethan – whose cinema borders on gritty and funny, Deo takes the path they do, without really copying. One saw Abhinay do a fabulous job in Delhi Belly and one must laud his efforts in Blackmail, too.

Of course, do not take the film's message to heart. The movie simply recommends that when you discover that everyday situations are threatening to defeat you – like your wife having an affair or a bank harrowing you for EMIs -- just resort to pure, simple blackmail. Now, this should not be followed in real life, but in the film this works because the context is bang on. And it is done with more humour than bad intent.

Blackmail is a thoroughly enjoyable 'black' comedy that will have you laughing aloud on a lot of occasions.

What goes against the film is the pace. For a thriller, it definitely needed sharper scissors – 139 minutes, really? Had the editing been better, especially in cutting out Arunoday Singh's hangdog expressions (in a couple of places), it would have helped. Of course, for the most part Singh is in terrific form and he is complemented beautifully by his dominating, rich wife, Dolly (Divya Dutta), who is also on point.

Actually, most of the cast gives superb performances. Irrfan with his poker-faced humour, Om Vaidya (who still has his 3 Idiots half-American twang), Kirti (as the unrepentant wife in an affair), Anuja Sathe as the prissy office girl, and even Anand (Pradhuman Singh), Dev's trusted colleague, who only dreams of downing vodka and deflowering virgins.

You can't complain about the music, but it still feels out of place in a thriller like this. Seeing Urmila Matondkar briefly is nice.

Verdict: 

Just go for it. You will be grinning for the most part.