Dev (Irrfan) is a toilet paper salesman. One evening he decides to
spice up his otherwise mundane life and passionless marriage, by going
home early from work with a bunch of roses for his wife. It turns out,
that his wife is in bed with another man. This shocking revelation leads
to a series of events which are both funny and outrageous.
Review:
The middle-class man is a victim of his own circumstances. He lives a
life of submission, so much so, that when presented with a situation of
conflict, like Dev, he struggles to commit a crime of passion. He
resigns to his fate, or so it would seem. Blackmail takes this concept
and gives it an uproariously good twist. It takes the common man’s daily
dilemmas and puts an intriguing spin on things like EMIs, loans and
failing relationships.
On learning about his wife’s adultery, Dev
starts blackmailing her lover Ranjit (Arunoday Singh), who in turn
blackmails Dev’s wife. More drama unfolds once other characters from
Dev’s life get to know of his blackmailing plans. It sparks a series of
sorts, where everyone starts blackmailing someone else for motive. The
situational humour that arises from this madcap premise is hilarious.
Parveez Sheikh (who’s written Queen and Bajrangi Bhaijaan) has his
finger on the right note, and pitches the comedy in the sequences
skilfully.
The pace of the first half is a bit slow. It takes
time to setup all the plots, but even then, the humour stays crisp and
entertaining. The second half is a laughter riot. As each plot unfolds,
the situations get bizarrely funny. Abhinay Deo’s direction is on the
money. After his black comedy Delhi Belly, he has cracked another one in
this genre with Blackmail. The sublime toilet humour in this story
reminds you of Delhi Belly. The music in the film (Amit Trivedi)
beautifully accentuates the right scenes. Badla, the rap featuring
Trivedi and Divine has been used effectively, and it adds great energy
to the narrative. In the film, Omi Vaidya who’s back with his crazy
American twang keeps encouraging Dev by saying, “shake it up” (pun
intended!). Add to that, there’s a zany song called Sataasat with lyrics
alluding to literally shaking it off! Blackmail’s quirky humour and
presentation makes it a delight ride.
Irrfan gives a solid
performance as the average office guy who can’t stand up to his boss,
nor to his unfaithful wife. He brings an air of helplessness to his
character and keeps a straight face even when he’s plotting and planning
the blackmail. There’s a degree of uncertainty in his actions which
comes from his goodness – and that’s what adds to the hilarity of it
all. Arunoday Singh, as the wacky track-suit wearing bad boy, is a rage.
It’s one of the best performances of his career. Divya Dutta as
Ranjit’s drunken and dominating wife adds to the amusement. Her scenes
with Arunoday are engaging. Also Kriti Kulhari, is decent in her part as
the philandering wife.
The plot of Blackmail is its hero and it
manages to strike a good balance between dark and funny. Characters are
bumped off, sometimes in most gory detail and strange events unfold, but
the film never loses its vein of easy, black humour. This is one of the
most wickedly funny films that we’ve seen in a long time.
