Release Date: April 06, 2018
Cast: Irrfan Khan, Kirti Kulhari, Arunoday Singh, Omi Vaidya, Divya Dutta, Urmila Matondkar
Director: Abhinay Deo
Genre: Action, Comedy, Thriller
Duration: 2 hours 19 minutes
If done right, black comedy never fails to delight. If you have a taste for this genre, Blackmail could be just the thing you need. The movie is yet another feather in the cap of Director Abhinay Deo, who had earlier delighted the audience with his madcap venture Delhi Belly. Blackmail takes a humorous look at the predicament of a man who comes to know about his wife’s illicit affair with another man. In most cases, a fight would ensue or a potential crime of passion would be committed, but the story takes a different turn in Blackmail. This unexpected twist is what sets the right tone for the black comedy and makes for an interesting watch.
The story is about Dev (Irrfan), who is just another common man, working as a salesman. One day, he thinks about surprising his wife (Kirti Kulhari) by going home early than usual. However, Dev gets the shock of his life when he sees that his wife is sleeping with another man named Ranjit (Arunoday Singh). Dev thinks about the usual options such as killing the man or killing his wife, but he takes an altogether different route. He starts blackmailing Ranjit and demands money to be paid as ransom. From here, the movie is a complete laugh riot, as more characters join the game of blackmailing. There comes a point where it’s difficult to tell who is the blackmailer and who is the victim.
The situational humor in Blackmail is really delightful and the credit goes to its quirky characters, each one of whom believes in being better than the other. Irrfan has delivered a good performance, as he fits perfectly in the role of a middle class guy dealing with a mid-life crisis. Other actors have also delivered good performances.
Blackmail comes across as wickedly amusing and offers an entirely new story to explore. If you like black comedy, just go for it.