Tisca Chopra's 'Saali Mohabbat' Movie Review: A fascinating Radhika Apte cannot lift a futile whodunnit

Cast: Radhika Apte, Divyenndu Sharma, Anshumaan Pushkar, Sharat Saxena, Anurag Kashyap, Sauraseni Maitra

Director: Tisca Chopra

Language: Hindi

Manish Malhotra, the ace fashion designer, surely has some interesting views on love. His first film as a producer was Gustaakh Ishq. His next one is called Saali Mohabbat. Notice the first words in the title. The man who has crafted exquisite clothes may have also seen the dark side of a pulsating emotion. Anyway, the film marks the directorial debut of actor Tisca Chopra. It stars Radhika Apte, Divyenndu Sharma, Anshumaan Pushkar, and Sauraseni Maitra. It’s (almost) a contagious ensemble. The title and the trailer give away more than they should. It’s not a rom-com but a whodunnit that explores the twisted side of love.

In a nearly Vikram Vedha-style, Apte narrates the story of a lady who happens to be who else but herself. For once, the viewers are conned into believing what they are witnessing could be fictional, until Chopra merges fiction with reality. The backdrop is the quant town of Fursatganj, and Apte is the docile wife fond of nature. The botanical homilies are taken care of by the veteran Sharat Saxena. Of course, in a film that wishes to be a thriller, such preaching ought to have more connotations than one. There’s a lot to admire in Saali Mohabbat but the juiciness is watered down by the predictable route the film takes. There’s nothing wrong in knowing the identity of the killer before everyone else does; Sriram Raghavan did that too with Johnny Gaddaar. The issue is the lack of that pulsating tension which seduces you into the world of the whodunnit.

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Divyenndu Sharma is pretty much what we saw him as in last year’s Agni, a haughty police officer but less socially and economically evolved. Sauraseni Maitra is the femme-fatale of the story, and Chopra gives her a smoldering role with a scorching persona. And she shares a raunchy chemistry with Anshumaan Parkar. No more details about their gratifying relationship here! Radhika Apte has a tough role to essay. She barely emotes. It works for the character and the story. Nobody should know what she’s going to do next. This is what Irrfan Khan did back in the day. In one scene when she catches her husband doing something he shouldn’t have, her face barely moves, a la Khan in the 2018 Black Mail. But she does catch you by surprise when she breaks down in two key scenes in the film, both involving a bed.

And yes, there’s Anurag Kashyap too, who could give Akshay Kumar some competition when it comes to celluloid omnipresence. He plays a colorful character who dresses likes Rapper Badshah. The actor is trying to have fun and make some moolah and nothing wrong about it. He’s not the villain of the story. He becomes a suspect but only fleetingly. Nothing would have happened even if he wasn’t there. But he is. Just to have fun!

But Saali Mohabbat could have been so much more fun. After a point, there are no surprise elements left. No shocking revelations. It’s only Apte playing her cards and telling the audiences through the writing of the thriller. And how it seems to have become the flavour of the season, the film ends on a cliffhanger, a word that’s used in almost every review in today’s times. The film basically tries to say hell hath no fury than a woman scorned. And a viewer too!

Rating: 2.5 (out of 5 stars)

Saali Mohabbat is now streaming on Zee5