Killer Soup Review: Konkona Sensharma and Manoj Bajpayee's Netflix Series is a Lukewarm Blend of Dark Humour and Predictability (LatestLY Exclusive)

Killer Soup Review: I wonder why this show is named 'Killer Soup' since - SPOILER ALERT - no soup kills anyone in the series. Abhishek Chaubey's Netflix series was originally titled simply 'Soup,' and that felt like quite an apt name. While 'paya soup' is a recurring motif here, the central characters also find themselves in a soup at all times colloquially. The show even finds creative ways to splash 'Soup' in the opening credits, but the prefix 'Killer' seems slapped on in those scenes forcibly. Killer Soup: Manoj Bajpayee Talks About His Double Role in Abhishek Chaubey's Web Series, Say 'I Knew I Was in Good Hands'.

The mystery of the convoluted name aside, the most attractive aspect of Killer Soup is the showrunner's name, followed by the bringing together of two of the finest actors in Indian cinema. It is hard not to be an admirer of Abhishek Chaubey in the field of film appraisals; his handling of black comedies and deeply flawed characters is quite laudable. Even in anthologies like Ray that feature the likes of Vasan Bala and Srijit Mukherji, he manages to stand out with his directorial. And with Manoj Bajpayee and Konkona Sensharma leading the show, it is hard not to feel enthusiastic about this black comic series based, by the makers' own promise, on a very 'real headline.' I am not sure what that headline is, but my heart did break a little when writing the headline of this review. Killer Soup holds a lot of promise and makes the best use of the acting talent within it, but after some point, it loses its pungent flavour, from which it never recovers.

Prabhakar Shetty (Manoj Bajpayee) is a hotelier living in a hill station in Tamil Nadu called Mainjur with his wife of 20 years, Swati (Konkona Sensharma). His business is on the rocks, and he has swindled amounts worth crores from his rough-tongued, bossy elder brother Arvind (Sayaji Shinde). Swati wants to start her own restaurant, but her own cooking stinks while her husband keeps dilly-dallying on the investment. He is also ignorant of the fact that she has been carrying an affair on the side with Umesh (Manoj Bajpayee), his masseuse, who, for some reason, has facial semblance with him. Prabhakar himself is a philanderer and a spouse-abuser, so there's that. By the end of the first episode itself, their twisted games result in two unintentional deaths, dragging other unfortunate souls into their mess.

Watch the Trailer of Killer Soup:

There is Hassan (Nasser), an experienced cop saddled with an enthusiastic rookie (Anbu Thasan) to investigate a murder when a tragedy stokes his vigour to solve the case. We have Appu (Anula Navlekar), the daughter of Arvind, who wants to be an art student in Paris, but her father is adamant that she remain in his hotel business. Then there is Lucas (Lal), Arvind's bodyguard and her 'maama,' whose connection with Appu holds a hidden secret. There is also Kirtimani (Kani Kusruti), Prabhakar's loyal employee, who has her own secrets. These characters, and a few more, try to add more spice to the proceedings, as some of them end up doing desperate things for their survival, like covering up murders.

The plot feels like a perfect recipe for Chaubey to indulge in his favourite art of storytelling - black comedy. The story treatment isn't new per se; Fargo the series has been tackling these kinds of stories for seasons now. Closer home, I was very strongly reminded of Vasan Bala's quirky black comedy, Monica O My Darling, where a flawed protagonist keeps digging himself deeper into a hole in trying to cover up one crime after another, as the body count increases around him. Unfortunately, it is Monica O My Darling itself that kind of becomes this yardstick for me when it comes to appraising Killer Soup, since it manages to wrap up its storyline within its movie-allocated runtime effectively, while Killer Soup struggles to maintain its momentum while stretching itself across eight episodes. A couple of episodes lesser perhaps, the soup could have still remained steamy. Killer Soup: Konkona Sen Sharma Says She Is 'Sick’ of Earnest Roles, Likes To Play Women With ‘Shades of Grey’.

It also doesn't help that Killer Soup remains predictable to the very end, with the twists and turns not exactly bumping up the tadka. The story idea held quite promising potential: what if a woman falls in love with two men who look nearly the same and ends up replacing one with the other? The initial portions, the love triangle setup, the resultant murders, and the introduction of the rest of the main characters had a lot going on. The casting of Konkona and Manoj is a masterstroke, as they spice up the drama with their histrionics that never settle for ordinariness. Konkona brilliantly portrays her character's wily manipulations and descent into further darkness. Bajpayee handles the duality of his characters with immaculate ease, especially when he has to portray one personality trapped behind another. There are also opportunities for them to display their comic abilities, with a particular sequence at the police station being quite a standout. The supporting cast also lives up to their tasks. Sayaji Shinde manages to tense up any sequence he lands in with his trademark rough act. Nassar does fantastic work as the cop haunted to solve the crime by a demon of his own. Lal is dependable as always, and Anula Navlekar leaves a mark even when standing up against these veterans.

But as much as the actors try their best, they can't just keep up with the writing that often lets them down (four writers involved... did too many cooks spoil the errr... 'soup'?). At times, I was forced to question the premise itself - why doesn't anyone ever think of a switcheroo happening when it is made clear that there are two people who do look alike? The darkness of the characters is tempting enough to stay with them to see where things are headed, even when the cumbersome pacing is a deterrent, but the payoff was underwhelming as well.

Even Chaubey's attempts to infuse quirkiness into the material don't keep things rolling smoothly, be it a perennially drenched spectre with a yellow raincoat (an IT reference, is it?) or a random act of incest that is soon forgotten after a confrontation. But credit where due, Chaubey retains local characters speaking in Tamil rather than having them talk in Hindi for audience's sake. It was also nice to hear Konkona converse in this language years after her star-making, national-award-winning turn in her own mother's Mr and Mrs Iyer.

Final Thoughts

Killer Soup simmers with the alluring potential of a captivating black comedy, yet it struggles to maintain its flavourful essence over an extended course of eight episodes. While the seasoned cast, particularly Konkona Sensharma and Manoj Bajpayee, adds spice to the broth, the predictable plot twists and missteps in writing leave this tantalising 'soup' with a somewhat underwhelming taste. Killer Soup is streaming on Netflix.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 11, 2024 01:41 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).