Web Series Review: Killer Soup

KILLER SOUP is the story of a ruthless ambitious woman and her submissive lover. In the picturesque town of Mainjur in South India, Swathi Shetty (Konkona Sen Sharma) resides with her husband Prabhakar Shetty aka Prabhu (Manoj Bajpayee) in a grand villa. Prabhu runs Last Resort and dreams of constructing the most happening hotel in the whole of South India. But he’s terrible at doing business. Yet, Prabhu doesn’t realize his flaw and continues to dream big. Swathi, too, suffers from the same complex. She feels she can cook delicious paya soup. But whoever consumes it finds it terrible. Nevertheless, Swathi dreams of opening her restaurant in Mainjur. Their ambition can be fulfilled only if Prabhu’s loaded brother, Arvind Shetty (Sayaji Shinde), agrees to fund their respective ventures. One night, Prabhu organizes a grand party for Arvind and tries to woo him to release funds. Arvind refuses. Prabhu returns home and lies to Swathi that Arvind has agreed to invest in his hotel. Unknown to Prabhu, Swathi is having an affair with Umesh Pillai (Manoj Bajpayee), a masseur, who incidentally is Prabhu’s lookalike. She is with Umesh when Prabhu comes home suddenly. Prabhu catches the lovers red-handed. He attacks them and in the ensuing madness, Prabhu dies. Instead of surrendering to the police, Swathi hatches a plan and pretends to the world that Prabhu is very much alive. Yet, the police get involved, comprising Inspector Hassan (Nasser), a young passionate officer Thupalli and (Anbuthasan) and head constable Asha (Shilpa Mudbi). What happens next forms the rest of the series.

 

Web Series Review: Killer Soup

 

Unaiza Merchant, Anant Tripathi, Harshad Nalawade and Abhishek Chaubey's story is terrific with a lot of criss-crossing tracks and twists and turns. Unaiza Merchant, Anant Tripathi, Harshad Nalawade and Abhishek Chaubey's screenplay is effective and very engaging. The show is nearly 400 minutes long and keeps one engaged as a lot is happening every now and then. One crucial track, however, is unconvincing. Unaiza Merchant, Anant Tripathi, Harshad Nalawade and Abhishek Chaubey's dialogues are normal but a few one-liners are too funny. The same goes for Siva Ananth's Tamil dialogues. Nearly 25% of the show is in Tamil and those who don’t understand the language and don’t prefer subtitles might find the experience a bit cumbersome.

 

Abhishek Chaubey's direction is ‘killer’. This is not an easy show to pull off and Abhishek uses his technical and execution abilities to give a thrilling and visually stunning product. Also, the goings-on is novel. Hence, one can’t help but get sucked into the world. The novelty is present right from the first shot. The intro of the fictional town of Mainjur, for example, is breathtaking and sets the mood. Another unique aspect is that the title logo animation is different for each episode. Once the characters and their eccentricities are introduced, the director unveils the plot and it’ll surely amuse viewers. The treatment and comic flavour might give a déjà vu of MONICA O MY DARLING [2022]. But that’s because it was recently released while Abhishek’s previous works have always had dark humour and bizarre characters. Here, he takes his USP to another level. Several scenes stand out but watch out for the tension at the end of the fifth episode. The climax and final scene are also worthy.

 

On the flipside, the track of Apeksha (Anula Navlekar) is unconvincing, be it her turnaround or the story about her mother or how she escapes from the clutches of the law. Inspector Hassan imagining a dead person guiding him sounds like a great idea on paper but it doesn't make the desired impact in the show. Lastly, the show gets confusing and even complex at places as there are too many characters, sub-plots and backstabbing happening at regular intervals.

 

 

KILLER SHOP is embellished with award-winning performances and Manoj Bajpayee and Konkona Sen Sharma take the cake. Manoj Bajpayee plays both the parts with finesse. It’s a bit over the top and not even for a second does it look awkward or out of place and this proves yet again why Manoj is one of the best actors today. Konkona Sen Sharma shines like never before. One actually feels slightly scared when she’s plotting her next move. And she looks gorgeous in the sarees. Sayaji Shinde is terrific and hopefully, he’ll be seen in a new light after this show. Nasser plays a complicated part with ease. Lal (Charles Lucas) is too good though his track could have been better explained. Anbuthasan leaves a huge mark despite very limited screen time. Anula Navlekar and Kani Kusruti (Kirtima) are impressive. Jasir (Sandesh Shetty aka Sandy) is okay and his romantic track seems unnecessary. Vaishali Bisht (Khansama) and Zubeida (Mallika Prasad Sinha) deliver entertaining performances. Shilpa Mudbi and Rajeev Ravindranathan (DSP Udaya Reddy) are fine.

 

Benedict Taylor and Naren Chandavarkar's music is in sync with the show’s unique and bizarre theme. Anuj Rakesh Dhawan's cinematography is stunning and captivating. Tiya Tejpal's production design is first-class and in some scenes, has a Wes Anderson-inspired effect. Shivank Kapoor's costumes are appealing, especially the ones worn by Konkona. Dirty Hands Studios's prosthetic design is great, especially in the scenes of Umesh. Amritpal Singh's action is limited and realistic. DNEG India, Open Slate and Satya Sai VFX Studio's VFX is fair. Sanyukta Kaza and Meghna Manchanda Sen's editing is sharp but in a few places, it could have been crisper.

 

On the whole, KILLER SOUP is a ‘killer’ show and works due to the amusing and unexpected goings-on, dark humour, visual appeal and above all, the award-winning performances, especially by Manoj Bajpayee and Konkona Sen Sharma.

 

Rating: 3.5 stars

Catch us for latest Bollywood News, New Bollywood Movies update, Box office collection,New Movies Release, Bollywood News Hindi, Entertainment News, Bollywood News Today & upcoming movies 2024 and stay updated with latest hindi movies only on Bollywood Hungama.