Blackmail

"It's the film's unique brand of humor – some of it pitch black and Coen-esque – that makes Blackmail worth your time, despite its shortcomings. Be warned that it's too long by at least 20 minutes, and requires patience. But give it a chance. A lot of it flies."

"Abhinay Deo's film starring Irrfan Khan is about controlled chaos but to pull that off, you need much sharper writing and a faster pace..."

"The Irrfan Khan starrer begins promisingly but descends pretty quickly into flatness and sluggishness, a classic problem of not knowing quite how to play out a perky idea."

"BLACKMAIL is quite an unconventional entertainer and a good black comedy. It may not have a pan India appeal but the target multiplex audience are sure to enjoy this flick. The costs of this film are reasonable and as a result, it'll turn out to be a profitable venture for its producers."

"Blackmail is a virgin territory in the comedy genre. It is heady and hedonistic, cocky and compelling in the way the comedies of Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Chatterjee used to be."

"Blackmail is dark, it's entertaining and never for a second it has a dull moment. Hope it joins the list of this year's well-earning movies like Padmaavat, Raid, Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety, PadMan & Baaghi 2. Irrfan Khan, we already miss you – please get well soon!"

"The plot of Blackmail is its hero and it manages to strike a good balance between dark and funny. Characters are bumped off, sometimes in most gory detail and strange events unfold, but the film never loses its vein of easy, black humour. This is one of the most wickedly funny films that we've seen in a long time."

"Blackmail is a thoroughly enjoyable 'black' comedy that will have you laughing aloud on a lot of occasions."

"Irrfan Khan is far from being essentially the same. His intentionally blank expressions and deadpan kind of tone is suitably changed here in keeping with his generally harangued character. Arunoday Singh and Divya Dutta steal the show with their effortless work, Singh dwarfing Dutta in the final analysis. Kulhari has nothing much to do, while Pradhuman Singh and Omi Vaidya overdo their bit, especially Vaidya who keeps showing his limitations. Anuja Anil Sathe is a delight, and Gajraj Rao and Vibha Chibber are fun too as the slimy detective and the gun dealer."

"Blackmail's settings are grim, dark, comic and capricious, but one misses the directorial chutzpah that Deo showcased in his 2011 film Delhi Belly. But these are just silly pinpricks one must find out in a film that never runs short of bite and sting."

"It's a bit exhausting to narrate the multiple entanglements, but the trying situations retain pace and keep one interested, curious and concerned about the events to follow."

"Fun filled and realistic story-telling made interesting with engaging and hilarious performances of Irrfan Khan and Divya Dutta."

"Irrfan Khan's Blackmail is a roller-coaster with its own set of ups and downs. A song in the film goes like 'Bewafa Beauty, Haaye, Ishq Mein Cheating Kar Gayi! But director Abhinay Deo stays true to his words and delivers a film that's high on quirky quotient and almost ticks off most of the check-boxes barring a few. If you are looking out for some 'hatke' black comedy then Blackmail is your comfort food."

"Feckless men on the back foot, wily and strong-willed women with transgressive tricks up their sleeves and a set of nondescript lives hurtling towards hell in an irreversible tailspin: Blackmail has them all. Sadly, in the end, they do not add up neatly enough to yield a genuine cinematic corker."

"Despite the magnificent build-up in the first half, the second quickly begins to disintegrate, the twists and turns begin to confuse and the jokes get repetitive. It literally "suc...s" out the fun."

"Goes cuckoo after a crafty, confident start...Irrfan Khan, of course, is the king of sardonic humour, with snarky lines delivered straight-faced."

""Blackmail" disappoints because it did have the potential to be an intriguing tale. If you must, watch it for Irrfan's delightfully nuanced performance."

"A toilet paper salesman attempts to infuse some life into his marriage and comes home early to find his wife in bed with another man. Instead of confronting them, he chooses to blackmail them. This sets off a series of what ifs and what then scenes that seem super chaotic and funny, but nothing makes you really care. If Irrfan Khan weren't as talented as he is, this film would have fallen apart within fifteen minutes."

"Unlike Deo-directed Delhi Belly! Blackmail's black comedy lacks pace and absurdity for viewers to be entirely sold to the events. Plot contrivance comes in as all characters indulge in blackmailing far too easily and with little repercussions. You stick around for the Irrfan show and he doesn't disappoint."

"You want to feel more for this character. I ended up feeling more for the actor Irrfan, on the other hand. As we speak, he is undergoing treatment for a serious health issue. If anything, this movie tells us, he needs to get better soon, and come back with much, much better stuff. The audiences, like me, are praying, patiently waiting."

"Blackmail then is an engaging but flawed tragi-comedy of errors..."

"Considering the trailer that was funny enough to tickle your funny bone, the movie is not even near to it."

"No room for poignancy in this Abhinay Deo outing; it's all about dredging out the essential wickedness, even in the best of human beings."

"Despite the efforts taken to ensure that the labyrinthine turns through the 139-minute movie are never confusing, the filmmakers are unable to avoid the twin curse of repetition and redundancy. Deo aims for conversational humour that evolves organically from the moment, but the running length could have been cut significantly limiting its impact. Blackmail has a satisfying neatness and roundedness that are usually missing from such films, but some of the manufactured clutter could have easily been avoided."

"Watching Blackmail is like riding a roller-coaster – you don't know as to what will happen next but the mere thrill of it is enough to make you hop on. With so much amusement, it is no wonder that you don't want the ride to end. It would be criminal to miss this one. An absolute must-watch!"