Killer Soup review: Manoj Bajpayee, Konkona Sensharma serve a bland broth

A dark comedy adorned with murder and mayhem, served with a side order of "paya" soup and a dream platter of Manoj Bajpayee and Konkona Sensharma? When I learned about Abhishek Chaubey's upcoming web series, "Killer Soup," for 2024, I thought, "Sign me up already." I hate to say it, but this mixture, which had so much flavour and freshness in it, only seldom worked for me.

The benefits come first. The charming Mainjur, a little village near Madurai, serves as the ideal backdrop for a twisting story full of sketchy characters and sketchier deeds. Husband and wife team Prabhakar or Prabhu Shetty (Manoj Bajpayee) and Swathi (Konkona Sensharma) are having what seems like an endless dispute; she is dreaming of opening her own restaurant, while he is attempting to figure out how to get out of a multi-crore "ghapla." The foul-mouthed, streetwise Arvind Shetty (Saiyaji Shinde), Prabhu's older brother, is unhelpful; he keeps the family's purse strings tight and his art-loving daughter Apeksha, called Apu (Anula Navelkar), even tighter, forbidding her from pursuing her dreams. The gravelly-voiced Lucas (Lal), Arvind's longtime factotum, is aware of the location of the skeletons and is a caretaker of former secrets. There seems to be a lot of potential for a fly in the soup. or several. A happy private investigator pulls out a camera and takes embarrassing pictures. There's a hint of blackmail. Umesh Pillai (Manoj Bajpayee in a dual role), Prabhu's squint-eyed masseuse, shows up at the wrong location and time.Killer Soup is a cleverly written crime and investigative comedy that is characterized by astute writing and flawless performance. It is witty, cunning, and incredibly amusing. One of its two main protagonists is the incompetent chef Swathi Shetty (Konkona Sen Sharma), who aspires to open her own eatery.Consider Swathi Shetty, her most recent invention. She is a horrible chef and homemaker who makes her husband Prabhu (Manoj Bajpayee) the same boring paya soup every day.

They reside in a made-up southern hill town where Prabhu manages a failing real estate business. Although her husband finds Swathi's goal of opening her own restaurant unrealistic, Umesh, her hidden lover (who is also Bajpayee), graciously encourages her. Umesh is a narrow-eyed masseuse who has debts from gaming. Though he treats Swathi kindly, Prabhu is wealthier. Swathi hedges her bets by pausing for a long, delightful moment before answering Umesh's question, "Do you love me?"