Revenge killings in R. Balki's 'Chup': Acts of a panned film's director?

Mumbai, Sep 5

The trailer of 'Chup', directed by veteran ad filmmaker and director R. Balki, was released on Monday. A film centred around revenge killings, the needle of suspicion in it points to a filmmaker, who's believed to have committed the murders after critics panned his movie while being generous to what he believes less-deserving films.

The serial killer thriller stars Dulquer Salmaan, fresh off his success in Sita Rama, who plays the film director, Pooja Bhatt, Sunny Deol and Shreya Dhanwanthary.

The film seems to come from a very personal space of Balki, whose some films have failed to impress the critics. He even went on to call out the critics in the past over their pretentious attitude towards movies with mainstream elements.

Talking about the germ of the idea, Balki said: "I had this idea for the story a long time ago and I don't know why I took so long to pen it down and get it on to the screen.

"It is a proper thriller that makes you get into the psyche of an artiste and the makings of a murderer. It's a project I hold dear to my heart and I am very proud to share it with the world."

The serial killer leaves stars (like the ones that critics give along with their reviews) on the bodies of the victims by carving their skins with a sharp object.

The trailer, naturally, doesn't point to the killer, but it shows Sunny Deol in the avatar of a cop in pursuit of the serial murderer. Deol lauded his director for his clarity of vision.

Commenting on the trailer release, Sunny said in a statement: "It was an interesting shoot for me personally. Balki's vision for this story was so crystal clear that the film seemed to have its own pace during shooting."

'Chup' also marks the third Hindi film of Malayalam superstar Dulquer Salmaan. The actor, who has earlier worked in Hindi films such as 'Karwaan' and 'The Zoya Factor', mentioned that this film is quite unique to him as an artiste.

He said, "I have done different films in my career, however this one really hits it out of the park in terms of the character and its story. It feels like you're looking into someone's inner workings and the character I play is especially unique so it was an altogether new experience for me."

The film, to be released on September 23, has been co-produced by Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Anil Naidu, Dr Jayantilal Gada (PEN Studios) and Gauri Shinde.

The original story is by R. Balki, the screenplay and dialogues have been co-written by Balki, critic-turned-writer Raja Sen and Rishi Virmani.