Sharing the first look of Choked: Paisa Bolta Hai, director Anurag Kashyap discusses why the Netflix film is close to his heart
Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; May 19, 2020)

After Sacred Games and Ghost Stories, Anurag Kashyap has joined forces with Netflix to tell another powerful tale, Choked: Paisa Bolta Hai. The suspense drama, featuring Saiyami Kher and Malayalam actor Roshan Mathew, drops on the streaming platform on June 5.

Through the story of Kher's character Sarita Pillai, a bank cashier who has to provide for the family while her husband Sushant struggles to make it as a musician, Kashyap delves into how greed and money can upend one's life. "The film is close to my heart. It is about relationships, and the precarious balance between truth, power and money. It is the story of a strong-willed, middle-class housewife who finds cash flowing out of her kitchen sink every night, and how this changes her life," says Kashyap.

Thrilled to collaborate with her favourite filmmaker, Kher says, "I thank Anurag for trusting me to bring Sarita to life. She is the everywoman — overworked and frustrated, yet tenacious and always scheming to build that dream life. Writer Nihit Bhave has beautifully woven the complexities of the middle-class family."

Mathew, who makes his Hindi cinema debut with the film, says it was exciting to play a defeated and suspicious character. "Anurag sir brought a unique kind of sensitivity to him," he adds.