Not my brand of cinema

Ready with script of his next theatrical fare, Killer Soup director discusses how he can match today’s filmmakers’ penchant for scale but not violence

Killer Soup was all things we expect out of an Abhishek Chaubey fare—off-beat, twisted and thoroughly entertaining. With his maiden web series behind him, the big screen is calling out to the director again. He reveals that he already has a script in place. “I finished writing the script of a theatrical [fare] last year. I will hopefully make it soon,” he says. 

If the past year has taught us anything, it is that tentpole movies are drawing people to the movie halls—be it Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan (2023) or Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal (2023). Would the big scale be an obstacle for Chaubey, who is known for his small but significant films like Ishqiya (2009) and Udta Punjab (2016)? “I can match the scale; I can make a spectacle. That’s not my worry. But anger and violence are some elements that I don’t subscribe to. Also, if there is a spectacle, it needs to have more layers and nuances. Those are the things I want to bring out on the big screen.” 

While the mainstream spectacles have brought in the moolah in recent times, Chaubey minces no words as he indicates that having big box-office numbers don’t necessarily make them good films. “We shouldn’t be aggressively dependent on weekend numbers. There are so many fantastic independent films available. It’s just the question of making them reach the audience. [Otherwise], they will consume what is being shown on the big screen.”

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