Chup - Revenge of the Artist is a dark thriller, occasionally brutal and gory, veering away from director R Balki's usual feel-good social dramas. Co-scripted by popular film critic Raja Sen, the movie stars Sunny Deol, Dulquer Salmaan and Shreya Dhanwanthary in the lead roles, with Pooja Bhatt in an extended cameo. Chup also attempts to be a tribute to Guru Dutt's legacy, but basically it is about a serial killer who targets and murders film critics who put up movie reviews that goes against his opinion (which he believes to be a public consensus).Chup Movie Review: Dulquer Salmaan is Outstanding While Sunny Deol is Restrained in R Balki's Uneven Serial-Killer Thriller.
Before we go ahead with our interpretation of the finale, let's warn you that there are going to be MAJOR PLOT SPOILERS ahead. So tread further carefully. So Dulquer Salmaan plays this serial killer Danny obsessed with Guru Dutt, who also moonlights as a florist and with whom Shreya's Nila Menon, a young, ambitious entertainment reporter, falls for without knowing his gory side-business. Sunny Deol plays Arvind Rathod, a top cop in Mumbai Police, who investigates these serial killings, while Pooja Bhatt plays a criminal psychologist.
The double lives of the serial killer merge in the third act when Arvind uses Nila as a bait to draw outDanny in the open. He makes her write a fake review which definitely catches Danny's attention, even though he is still in love with Nila, that doesn't stop him from wanting to kill her. Does he succeed? Well, this movie also has Sunny Deol so you know that's never going to happen.
What Made Danny into a Critic-Killing Guru Dutt Obsessed Serial-Killer?
So well, it turns out Danny ain't the killer's name, rather it was the name of his dog whom his abusive father killed years back. His real name was Sebastian Gomes and he had a very abusive childhood where his drunk father would beat him and his mother up. When he used to defend his mother from getting beaten, his father used to lock him up in the basem*nt, from whose window, little Sebastian can see the neighbouring house, where the resident priest used to watch Guru Dutt movies, and that somehow forged his devotion to the tragic legend of Hindi cinema.
As an adult, Sebastian turned his childhood woes into a script, including the death of his dog and later, the death of his father from the excessive drinking. He directs that script as a movie Chup, which, sadly, is received poorly by the critics, and his movie gets lost into obscurity. Sebastian sees this poor critical reception as them brutalising his trauma and he goes insane thus getting rehabilitated in the psychiatric facility.
Watch the Trailer:
However Sebastian isn't purely cured and comes out as someone with split personality (we presumehe was suffering from schizophrenia), which would explain him talking to himself. With the anger still residing within him about critics, he turns into a serial killer murdering those whose reviews don't appreciate the quality of the movie - whether good or bad. Sebastian, however, reflects the rage on his own failure as a filmmaker towards the tragedy of Guru Dutt, who he believes fell into depression and later allegedly died by suicide because critics lambasted his last directorial effort, Kaagaz Ke Phool. He may believe that he is taking revenge for the late Guru Dutt, but in reality, it is his own vendetta.
How Arvind Deduces Danny is the Killer
To be honest, it was Danny himself who gave a big clue to a clueless Arvind about him being the killer. While cradling Nila to make her sleep, for some reason, Danny doodled the star insignia on her forehead. Though he noticed this, Arvind only begin to have doubts about Danny when his subordinates reveal that Danny left his cycle behind after being evicted from the premises and he also remembered Danny had brought flowers for Nila in the same plastic wrap that the killer uses on his victim.Chup Movie Review: Critics Laud Dulquer Salmaan's Performance in R Balki's Thriller Co-Starring Sunny Deol!
When he goes to Nila's bedroom, it is then Arvind realises Danny tricked him into thinking the pile of pillows were her, and he had thrown her into the neighbouring compound of locked Mehboob Studios. Thankfully, Arvind manages to take a mighty jump and save Nila at the nick of time, otherwise his foolhardiness would have cost another life.
How Sebastian Ruined the Cinema Buff in Nila?
Well, not only did her boyfriend turn out to be a murderous psychopath, but he also ruined the cinema buff and the romantic in her. Of course, she won't be looking Guru Dutt movies the same way ever again, but there is more emotional damage here. Earlier in the movie, Nila tells 'Danny' that she believes she is in love only when that special man would walk towards her in slow motion. However, when that slo-mo walk happens for her in real, she is bound and gagged by the same man whom she loved and he now intends to kill her. Thus telling her that the real life is nothing like the romantic hues of cinema (though that doesn't stop Arvind from doing a 'Sunny Deol' jump).
Secondly, she believes herself to be a good film critic and appreciator of good cinema. Which is why she was crestfallen when Arvind made her put a negative review for a film that she loved. However, Sebastian destroyed that notion of hers when he points out that she didn't recognise that the movie was a ripoff of a Mongolian film, and thereby she is not a good critic. While she was saved from a near death by Arvind, who incapacitates Sebastian by shooting him down, Nila is definitely bound to be emotionally scarred and those scars won't leave her for a long time.
Is Sebastian's Murderous Rage a By-Product of His Anger Towards Himself?
Sebastian's anger with the critics stems from the fact that they unequivocally slammed his film. This is reiterated to a tied-up Nila when he is about to drop a spotlight on her (intending to break her head into 'thousand pieces' as she had written in the review). However, Nila points out that if everyone hated that movie, does that mean even he hated his film too? This made Sebastian pause, as she tells him that criticism only hurts when the artist is himself not sure of his work.Chup Movie: Dulquer Salmaan and Wife Amaal Make Stylish Appearance at the Film’s Special Screening in Mumbai.
Since Sebastian hesitated for a moment there, does it mean that his murderous rage against the critics merely him deflecting his own anger towards them? Like how Memento's Leonard Shelby refused to accept that he accidentally killed his own wife, and created fake memories to pass that blame on others.
How Sebastian's Last Moments Parallels Guru Dutt
Sebastian survives the shooting and is incarcerated in, presumably, a heavily protected psychiatric cell. He sees in the newspaper in which the food is served to him - a headline about a movie critic dying by COVID-19. This news makes him so happy that he begins to laugh maniacally in the cell, meaning his anger towards critics haven't subsided. While this is still an open ending, but that doesn't mean a sequel is imminent.
Anyway on this last frame, many headlines (bracketed in the flowery pattern of his plastic wrap) are pasted that reveals his first and only movie, Chup, has turned into a viral hit, garnering 1 billion views and even turning into a sensation in South Korea. How it got leaked is never made clear, but we do have an inkling either Arvind or Nila had a hand in it, feeling bad about his tragic backstory (sadly, no sympathy for the victims that he killed. Critics are bad, right? Right?).
But let's talk about the Guru Dutt parallels in the scene. Sebastian's attire (the soiled kurta and the black shawl thrown across his shoulders) and his bearded physical appearance and the way he is framed against the light and the dark walls are a nod to Guru Dutt in the Pyaasa song "Ye Duniya Agar Mil Bhi Jaye" (that is also played in this scene). The song comes in the 1957 film when Guru Dutt's character, frustrated with how everyone around him has betrayed him and banishes him from his own recognition, denounces the world in front of everyone. Pertinent to note here that portion of the song played in the last scene of Chup is "Jala Do Isey, Phoonk Daalo Yeh Duniya...". We need not say anymore.
Watch the Pyaasa Song here:
Also important to note here, that how Kaagaz Ke Phool that was a box office bomb when Guru Dutt was alive, turned into a cinematic milestone after his demise. Similarly, it is only after his incarceration that Sebastian's film Chup finally found its way to fame, praise and international recognition. Though celebrating the work of a serial killer seems bizarre and perhaps reflecting the times we live in, and this comes in a film whose last scene has a main character laughing at the death of a film critic by COVID-19. Oh well...
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 25, 2022 11:01 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
