In an Abhishek Chaubey offering, you can be assured of two things—devious characters, and a moody, almost earthy setting. The director found both elements when writers Unaiza Merchant, Harshad Nalawade and Anant Tripathi pitched Killer Soup to him, only months after Sonchiriya’s (2019) release. It was the perfect start, thought the director who was hungry to explore long-form storytelling.

“These three bright writers had also penned a bit of the first episode. The show’s mood is what I immediately fell in love with. I felt I had the skill to blend the different tones into one narrative,” Chaubey recalls.

Expanding the crime comedy over eight hours initially felt daunting. But the story of the Manoj Bajpayee and Konkona Sen Sharma-starrer lured him on. Chaubey relished the shifting power dynamics between the lead characters as he told the story of a shrewd wife who plans to kill her husband and put her lookalike lover as the stand-in.

“It took us two years to write. Shows like this should be enjoyed as a piece of music. I don’t want to explain to the audience, or preach. [I want to] show how power operates within the confines of a family. We mostly talk about power in terms of political or social settings, but not in terms of a family. In this show, you see how lust for power defeats love, and when the power balance shifts, it’s always ugly. Here, women are coming into power, and it’s going to be bad because [these characters] aren’t exactly the nicest people. After all, nice people don’t get power.”

The Netflix black comedy was further elevated by the dependable Bajpayee and Sen Sharma. The director agrees, stating, “Actors of a lesser talent would not have been able to bring about the show’s meaning. You need actors like Manoj and Konkona, who bring nuance.”

Chaubey's heart, however, lies with the big screen. It has been five years since his last theatrical outing, Sonchiriya, and eight years since the hard-hitting Udta Punjab (2016). Even as the director is aware that his brand of gritty cinema isn’t encouraged in the current climate, he is eager to bring forth stories to the marquee.

“Sudip [Sharma, Kohrra creator] and I have spoken at length about this. He has told me that he is not doing theatricals for now. I enjoy doing a two-hour theatrical film. I feel a certain point of view needs to come across on the big screen. I know the climate is not conducive for certain kinds of films, but I’ll try. If one of us is not going to do it, it’s not going to happen,” he asserts.

In the year gone by, we saw spectacle films ruling the box office. It was also the year when the debate around cinema’s responsibility in influencing society took centre-stage, in the aftermath of Animal’s release.

The director shares, “Cinema is not the only thing that influences society, everything else does too. It’s not merely a reflection of what’s going on in society, but also an expression of it. For us to say uncomfortable truths, we need to also listen to people whose opinions we don’t like and find regressive. That’s the price you pay. You can say you don’t like it, but you can’t ask for it to stop.”