The opening scene of Abhishek Chaubey’s deliciously surreal crime series Killer Soup, which features a Latin sign outside a mortuary in the fictional Tamil Nadu hill town where the show is set, reads, “Mortui vivos docent” (the dead teach the living). This signifies that although the owners of the phones are dead, the warped connection lingers on and affects the course of the eight twisted episodes on Netflix. The surreal is par for the course here, as each death casts a shadow on those that survive.
They make a desperate attempt, but are unable, to dismiss the weight of the dead.
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.
Prabhakar ‘Prabhu’ Shetty (Manoj Bajpayee), her conceited husband, makes a commitment to assist her but is more concerned with saving face following a string of failed business ventures. Their union is doomed to failure.
Arvind Shetty (Sayaji Shinde), Prabhu’s foul-mouthed older brother, vacillates between brotherly fondness and biting candor. He doesn’t miss an occasion to annoy Prabhu with his carelessness. Prabhu blatantly takes advantage of his elder brother. There are many unanswered questions regarding the latter as well.
Disappointed with both her possessions and her lack of them, Swathi begins an affair with Umesh Pillai (Bajpayee in two roles), a masseuse who works for the Shetty brothers and is well-versed in their dubious business dealings.
Swathi and Umesh become terrified when their relationship is revealed. A series of poor decisions puts them in a soup. Following an abrupt demise, a frenzied attempt at concealment, and an unsettling rebuilding of their face, their deceit, treachery, and falsehoods take on almost demonic dimensions.
Together with co-creators and writers Anaiza Merchant, Anant Tripathi, and Harshad Nalawade, Chaubey crafts a suspenseful, darkly comedic criminal thriller that knows exactly where it’s going but manages to keep viewers on the edge of their seats.
Similar to Chaubey’s motion pictures, the series is based on a distinct, real-world setting. Nonetheless, the soundtrack is a mashup of several dialects and languages spoken with different accents. The variety of language quirks and rhythms greatly enhances the performance.
Tamil, Malayalam, and Dakhini are widely used to intersperse the several Hindi and English dictionaries scattered throughout the series. Combine the following: AR Rahman’s Tu hi re tere bina main kaise jiyu (from Mani Ratnam’s Bombay) and Robert Frost’s “The woods are lovely, dark and deep” and Macbeth’s soliloquy “Life’s but a walking shadow”; you have one of the most aurally varied Indian web shows ever. Pav Bhaji and Nina Simone’s “Sinnerman” are also included.
The charm is increased by the actual, physical dimensions of the charming environment captured by Anuj Rakesh Dhawan’s camera. Roads wind through lush valleys. Sloping hills attempt to break through the clouds. Beneath the town’s placid exterior, however, lies a lethal stew of suppressed passion, dashed hopes, extortion, and sinister alliances.
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