Short film Chutney creeps out viewers

The little-over-16-minute film is not tangy as its namesake and rather has a very dark and sinister plot. Tisca, who has also co-written the story, stars as a housewife from Ghaziabad who spots her husband (Adil Hussain) getting intimate with another woman (played by Rasika Dugal) from their neighbourhood at a party. The next afternoon, Dugal makes her way to Chopra’s home. There, she is served pakoras with a bowl of chutney. As Dugal devours the chutney and pakoras, Chopra begins to tell her a story of love, of betrayal, and its sordid end. There are two domestic servants in the plot, one is killed after he discovers his wife cheating on him, the other one spits into the glasses of cold beverage before serving them to his employee and her guest. Adultery and unfaithful husbands run through the plot with threats of toxification and death. It’s a spicy story about the great Indian middle class — how they seem so normal but have such deep secrets buried in their seemingly calm exteriors. And the end of the short film leaves you asking for more.