Killer Soup follows the story of a married woman having an affair with a man who is her husband’s lookalike, and wishing to open a restaurant of her own until a murder forces her to replace her husband with her lover. Will she succeed in her plans? The story is quirky and trippy but if you look closely it is almost like an antithesis of the famous Shakespearean tragedy, Macbeth. Willian Shakespere is perhaps the most famous playwright, a part of English literature that we have adored over the multiple readings of his works. Even in the Hindi Film Industry, there have been fascinating adaptations of his works with the maestro Vishal Bhardwaj leading the brigade with three smashing adaptations in the form of Maqbool, Omkara and Haider. So it hardly is a surprise that his prodigy, Abhishek Chaubey did choose to adapt Macbeth in his own quirky manner with all the ingredients of chaos and madness. But in this process, it is worth noting also that the drama is a niche as not many might identify with this brand of humour. It is very Vishal Bhardwaj-esque in its texture, a fair reflection of the subsequent themes on the show. Yet, it did work for me for most pasts of its runtime in a screenplay expanding through 8 episodes ranging from 40 odd to 50 odd minutes each. 

The drama is right on the ball with the introduction of the protagonists, a husband and his wife who are shown to have a ‘meaty’ conversation over dinner. At the centre of the attention is a soup(used multiple times throughout the narrative) which is immediately detested by the character of the husband by simply beating about the bush with one-liners like ‘Acidity, Babes’, much to the dismay of his wife. Soon, we get a glimpse of some of the other characters in a terrific sense of world building that opens many threads to the tale while consistently maintaining the quirkiness in the drama with a hint of black comedy. The character dynamics are fascinating and quite honestly the driving force of the screenplay that unfolds mostly through the point of view of Swathi(the character of the wife) for most parts of the duration. She is scheming, calculative but also brilliantly naive, a character trait that turns the character of Lady Macbeth on its head. This quality is further accentuated following a chance murder of her husband wherein she gets a bright idea of replacing her lover who happens to be a cockeyed doppelganger of her husband. The only issue that needs a cover up is his ‘eye’. Elsewhere, there is a blackmailer on the loose along with the brother of the deceased husband, a goofy foul-mouthed gangster who doesn’t trust anyone. In short, there is clearly a lot on your plate apart from the ‘soup’. 

The proceedings are quirky and starkly funny particularly when the investigation kicks off, even as the body count rises. The deaths in itself are quirky in nature where no-one really is at fault yet the characters continue to get embroiled in the case due to their vested interests. There would also be various points wherein you would be puzzled and probably playing catch-up with the multiple threads that are opened but it is the tone of the drama that consistently is quirky with dollops of dark humour. I liked how English literature was used as a tool for gathering clues that opens up new connections including the deceased husband’s past that honestly had me cracking up subtly. Even the pulpy meta-references of a famous yesteryear’s song and an actor was smartly integrated in the screenplay. The issue in the screenplay lies in its extended final act that is overtly indulgent, mildly convoluted and underwhelming towards the end. The setup was there and it demanded a better finishing act which unfortunately wasn’t to be. But taking nothing away from the journey that was madness personified while being an intoxicating antithesis of Macbeth.