Chhuri review: Tisca Chopra, Anurag Kashyap's short film is sharp but not as powerful as Chutney
Tisca Chopra won instant accolades for her unrecognizable appearance and subtle performance in Chutney, the short film that she released almost a year ago. Admittedly, an actor who is seeking to create roles that remain in memory in an industry where good roles are sparse, Chopra has acted in a fresh new short film Chhuri with Surveen Chawla and filmmaker Anurag Kashyap.
Tisca Chopra in a still from Chhuri. YouTube
Interestingly, Chhuri has a similar theme to Chutney, in the beginning. It is about a wife who knows and is resigned to the fact that her husband cheats on her. But then she turns the tables in her own smart way. She decides to plan the husband’s cheating days as part of a neat, organized weekly routine — one that fits in seamlessly with her kids’ tuition and swimming lessons. She also compliments her husband’s lover on inspiring him to take good care of himself; until she brings out a key reveal about the woman.
Chhuri goes forward with the theme of a victim turning victor with quiet wit and brazenness that you would never associate with such a woman. It is funny and subtle. Kashyap plays the cheating husband, nothing redeeming about the man, and does it very well. He really should act more often. Chawla is convincing. Mansi Jain, a Columbia Film School graduate, has directed this short film and loves the playing field for the medium in India today.
Yet, Chhuri does not quite have the tanginess of the narrative of Chutney — which was both powerful and so rooted in an Indian household, that the element of surprise actually shocks the viewer in the end. Women who do battle in their own signature manner is a good starting point for a story, but if it is laced with the associative helplessness of the Indian housewife, then that story becomes all the more powerful.
