Cast: Saiyami Kher, Roshan Mathew, Amruta Subhash, Rajshri Deshpande

Director: Anurag Kashyap

Ratings: ***1/2

Four years earlier the nation witnessed the unimaginable when the demonetization of 500 and 1000 currency notes was announced and within minutes lakhs of crore of rupees had turned to paper. Now, Choked, a Netflix original film directed by Anurag Kashyap has attempted to focus on the subject from a different perspective so lets see if the perspective really is different here or not.

Choked begins off with a man having a suitcase full of money and making bundles of that money to put it in plastic bags. The man is hiding the money in his bathroom's sink which is attached to another flat's kitchen sink. Now, that kitchen belongs to a lower-middle class lady Sarita (Saiyami Kher) who is a bank employee and the only bread winner of her family as her husband Sushant (Roshan Mathew), a struggling musician, is jobless.

Just like her life, Sarita's kitchen sink is also a mess but then, one day, destiny strikes and turns the mess into a blessing as the upstairs guy throws his plastic bundles of money into the bathroom sink attached with Sarita's kitchen sink and what follows is actually unimaginable. Sarita's starts living the rags to riches dream in reality. But then, destiny strikes again, and this time in the form of demonitization and what follows turns Sarita's newly found happiness into a nightmare.

The screenplay of Choked definitely has a lot of gripping & thrilling moments and Anurag Kashyap proves his mettle in directing a fine thriller-drama once again. The film is so relatable that you end up watching yourself instead of Sarita that makes it much more enjoyable keeping the viewer totally hooked.


Coming to performances, Saiyami Kher blows your mind off with her stellar acting. She is someone to watch out for. The actor has beautifully donned the skin of Sarita and without a second thought, her efforts have paid off well. Parthveer Shukla as Sarita's son Sameer, who is sometimes confused when his parents fight and most of the times juggling between them, is a wonderful treat to watch.

Roshan Mathew's performance as Sushant is precisely good in, be it as a lazy man or a worried and insecure husband. His character is so unlikable that it makes you appreciate the guy in every scene. Amruta Subhash as a concerned and emotional neighbour is also amazing in her part.

Cinematographer Sylvester Fonseca captures the innards of the building of lower middle class strata beautifully. The nooks and crannies of Sarita and Sushant's home give a truky realistic feel and enhance the seamless integration of these spaces with the screenplay.

The music has been blended well with the narrative making it more entertaining and the usage of background music in every scene makes it more dramatic & realistic.

Overall, Choked is a intense jaw dropping-thriller that keeps you gripped from the beginning till the end with a beautiful socio-political message. A must watch for its engaging writing, direction and some praiseworthy performances.