277. Blackmail; movie review

BLACKMAIL
Cert 15
138 mns
BBFC advice: Contains strong violence

Abinhay Deo's Blackmail begins with a song about masturbation.
I kid you not - it is even accompanied by images of a company junior executive (Irrfan Khan) going to the toilet to 'commit his sin.'
It is quite fascinating how Indian cinema contains such blatant sex references but would never show nudity and yet in the West the reverse is true.
Anyway, the song succeeded in quickly grabbing my attention to a film which has been acclaimed by critics and at the box office.
And, to be fair, Blackmail is so quirky that it demands its audience sticks with it otherwise they will miss something.
However, for me, it only prompted smiles and chuckles rather than belly laughs.
Blackmail is an elaborate farce which begins when Khan's character, Dev, finds his wife (Kirti Kulhari) in bed with a younger man (Arunoday Singh).
He discovers her lover is married into a well-to-do family so, instead of confronting them, decides to blackmail him and seek revenge.
This begins a crazy chain of events which sees the film's key characters become more and more crazed under pressure.
Khan is one of my favourite Indian actors. I like his deadpan delivery and his perpetually concerned face.
But I see him as an actor who deserves a bit better than playing along to jokes about hand sex.
Nevertheless, he is a sympathetic lead despite me wanting to scream at the screen when Dev makes duff decision after duff decision.
So, in between the smutty gags and endless quips surrounding the toilet roll firm for which Dev works, there is a cack-handed blackmail.
And, out of the blue, the movie takes an In Bruges-style violent edge which again is meant to be funny.
Sadly, as said, I didn't laugh.
Indeed, the more heightened the scenarios became the more I found that it pushed the boundaries of credibility too far.
Perhaps, Blackmail caught me in the wrong mood but it didn't quite resonate with me and that was a shame.

Reasons to watch: Quirky comedy
Reasons to avoid: Not as funny as it is trying to be

Laughs: Couple of chuckles
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 6/10

Director quote - Abhinay Deo: "Blackmail was the 48th script I read. Actually I read both Force 2 and this one sent by my friend Parvez Sheikh almost simultaneously and knew instantly that I had to make this film. Even Irrfan (Khan) saw the potential in it and said yes immediately. "

The big question - If you were being blackmailed would you pay or go to the police?

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