In the short film Chutney, Tisca Chopra’s character narrates a cautionary tale of lust and punishment to a woman who is flirting with her husband. Chopra co-wrote the twist-laden Chutney. Her first feature, Saali Mohabbat, expands on ingredients present in the short film.
Saali Mohabbat, which is out on ZEE5, stars Radhika Apte as Kavita, a demure but also fraught housewife straight out of a Mannu Bhandari novella. Kavita has read her share of crime fiction too. When she sees her husband canoodling with a guest at a party, she proceeds to tell the gathering… a cautionary tale of lust and punishment.
In the town of Fursatgarh, Smita (Apte again) is married to Pankaj (Anshumaan Pushkar), a gambler who owes the flamboyant Gajendra (Anurag Kashyap) a great deal of money. When Smita’s cousin Shalini (Sauraseni Mitra) starts an affair with Pankaj, and when their corpses are found, Smita becomes the prime suspect for the policeman Ratan (Divyenndu).
The cast includes Sharat Saxena, nicely cast against type, as a protective gardener. Tisca Chopra’s chronicle of a cold-blooded crime, co-written with Sanjay Chopra, is warmest towards the actors. Each one of them has been fleshed out and directed with care, letting them leave their mark in a film that centres on Radhika Apte’s alluring reserve.
Although she consider herself unattractive – the movie’s most unconvincing aspect – Smita is no shrinking violet. Apte brings out Smita’s anguish that is seething beneath the surface as well her dignity in the face of the Pankaj-Shalini affair. Smita is very much like the small plant that cracks the mountain’s surface – one of many wise observances in the script.
Lean and occasionally mean, Saali Mohabbat joins the ranks of movies about righteous crimes with confidence, if not quite substance. The 104-minute film is low on suspense, and could have benefitted from sharper characterisation. Since the narrative is tilted towards a sequel, Tisca Chopra leaves matters hanging, rather than delivering a story that is complete in itself.
While the most compelling character is Smita, the housewife with the pinched smile and deadly forbearance, the rest of the cast is memorable too. Divyenndu is especially sharp as a shady cop who finds himself dealing with a woman with secrets tucked into her sari folds.
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