‘Comedy Of Terrors’:

“Shake it up”, says Irrfan Khan’s boss, an order the former follows verbatim.
Abhinay – son of Marathi and Hindi screen veterans Ramesh and Seema – Deo’s (Delhi Belly) latest, ‘Blackmail’ is a delightful take on infidelity which goes acutely out of hand in a vortex of blackmail and three deaths.
Dev Kaushal (Irrfan Khan) has a frosty and frigid relationship with his wife Reena (Kirti Kulhari) and hence, whiles away time in office beyond normal working hours. One day, in an attempt to improve relations, he goes home early with a bunch of roses to surprise his wife, only to glimpse her in bed with ex-lover Ranjit (Arunoday Singh). Abetted by a perky colleague and a double-crossing private detective, Dev resorts to an unorthodox way of retribution – blackmail, a ruse which soon goes sorely out of control.
Shot largely in Navi Mumbai, Blackmail has director Abhinay Deo switching genres and shifting gears effortlessly. It’s a tad long at 139 minutes, but a pacy and engrossing second half more than makes up for the relatively sedate initial 70 minutes.
Two scenes stand out in the film – Ranjit buying a gun ‘Bollywood style’ and the one where Dev is interrogated by the police officer. Irrfan is effortless while, in a pivotal role the brawny Arunoday (currently seen on stage in ‘The Sound of Music’), with an admirable sense of comic timing, is a revelation.
Kirti Kulhari is average while Divya Dutta, as Arunoday’s overbearing and domineering alcoholic wife, is good. So too is Praduman Singh as Irrfan’s office colleague whereas Omi Vaidya, as Irrfan’s bosss, is miscast.
Abhinay Deo’s treatment of the narrative – story and screenplay by Parveez Sheikh (Bajrangi Bhaijaan) – is a fine example of the proverbial seven-year itch and its consequences going awry.