Chup is filled with novelty, thrill, performances and also some needless complications that can make the climax upsetting for some. However, R Balki’s quest for such stories and Dulquer-Sunny-Shreya combo is hard to miss on screen.

Directed by R Balki and starring Dulquer Salmaan, Sunny Deol and Shreya Dhanwanthary in the lead, Chup revolves around a boy turned psychopath who is out on the loose killing film-critics. He is killing everyone whose opinion doesn’t matches his own. This antagonist is played by Dulquer and Sunny who plays the cop is trying to decipher this mystery of serial-killings. Shreya, who also is an entertainment journalist plays the role of Dulquer’s love interest.

The serial-killer is murdering film critics and his style of killing is exactly like the bad reviews the critics had written. There is a lot of focus on how the killings were executed rather than the motive of these killings. The motive of the protagonist is explained to you only in the climax that quickly flashes in less than 2 minutes. The film ends up carrying so much on its shoulders that it should have unloaded things in instalments. There is this main plot and there is another romance sub-plot. Also, Guru Dutt has been used as a central character in the film and the antagonist has grown up aspiring to become like Guru Dutt.

Now what keeps you hooked is this very thing – you don’t know what is the connection of this Psychopath to Guru Dutt and what is the actual motive for his brutal acts. While the climax messes it up by adding multiple motives, yet it is a thrilling watch throughout the runtime. Probably a less complicated screenplay and an easy end could have made a better impact. But R Balki is known for his peculiar style of filmmaking and it is only he who can foray into themes like these. This said, the dialogues of the film are great. There is a special appearance of Amitabh Bachchan in the film wherein he delivers a note on why critics and criticism are important for cinema which is so well written. Also, Shreya’s dialogues are penned with sensibility.

The performances are praiseworthy. Dulquer Salmaan pulls of a terrifying act of the killer juggling very well between his split personality of being normal and being a psychopath. He plays it with such nuances. Shreya Dhanwanthary gets a sufficient screentime and performs commendably. The real highlight of the film is Sunny Deol. He gets the comeback he deserved after such a long hiatus from the big-screen. He is able to pull-off the serious cop role very well. While his character is not very layered, he is still able to add a lot of Sunny-ness into it.

The direction is great with one notable aspect being that very intense and dark scenes are pulled off amidst melodious background score. Also, his grip on the narrative is very strong. The motives and flashbacks are also shown in a very different way. The production design, cinematography and BGM all add to creating the requisite tone and atmosphere.

On the whole, Chup will be an intriguing watch for the concept that it taps as well as the performances.