Because your six can be my nine!

(From left) Vinay Pathak and Rajat Kapoor in Everybody Loves Sohrab Handa

There's a shot in actor-auteur Rajat Kapoor's latest film, Everybody Loves Sohrab Handa (ELSH; Zee5), where a character drops a six of spades from a deck of cards on the table, which implies he's lost - only to then flip that number to nine.

Meaning, hence, that "your six can be my nine".

That expression, you'll recall, became popular, courtesy a Galgotia University employee at the 2026 AI Summit in New Delhi - over how she was possibly misunderstood on TV, attributing an imported Chinese robotic dog as having been developed by her university's ‘centre of excellence' instead!

I bring this up with Rajat, who obviously laughs, "Oh, yes, your six, my nine; should've used it in the [film's] promo, damn!" If I'm not mistaken, the phrase comes from a scene in an Amitabh Bachchan picture, Aakhree Raasta (1986).

With ELSH, it applies equally to a group of buddies from varied professions, partying together - entrepreneurs (Neil Bhoopalam, Waluscha De Souza), news anchor (Danish Hussain), philosophy professor (Ranvir Shorey), et al - who don't quite seem as they are.

It's a matter of interpretation. As with Sohrab Handa himself (Vinay Pathak) - a brashly unfiltered, aggressive North Indian brat. But as the psychologist (Rajat) at that party analyses, "He's not a bully… There's a soft, vulnerable side to him."

The film opens with Sohrab found murdered in the living room, after the group had wound up for the night, post a day-long wedding anniversary celebration, at a secluded heritage property.

There are a dozen-and-half people. None left the bungalow. No one entered either. The killer's among them. ELSH is a whodunnit. Which is a much-loved OTT genre.

I suppose, because murder mysteries seamlessly feed into the addictive urge of the brain to figure from any story: what happens next! You carry on predicting; switching between multiple suspects, motives, alibis…

Since the plot's the only point for the bed rot - the conclusion could underwhelm you. That's before you press play, to another, similarly low-key murder mystery, for a movie/series, and dose off.

ELSH is far more character-driven, that way. And the reason I was drawn to the film beyond its product category. "Subversion's a big word. I was trying to make a film within [the genre] tropes," writer-director Rajat tells me. This is his "first whodunnit", as it were.

Although comparisons to Rajat's thoroughly engaging, Kadakh (2019), might be inevitable: "One night. One space. Dead body. Similar group of friends, relatives. It's a companion piece," Rajat admits. But, of course, the feel/purpose is entirely separate.

As is the nature of repartees, banter - with stronger subtext on the world for what it is - or even the shooting style. "Kadakh was mainly hand-held. Shots [in ELSH] are very choreographed. It was exciting to have 15-16 characters [simultaneously] in the same frame," Rajat recalls.

Which, he reckons, was only impossible, because the actors - pretty much all of them in top-form - were present, throughout, while they shot the movie in Lonavala, over 28 days flat.

Who did I love the most in ELSH? Actor Chandrachoor Rai. He plays Sohrab Handa's younger brother. He was there in Kadakh too. And in Rajat's best work yet, the adorable Ankhon Dekhi (2013) - "fresh out of FTII, when he auditioned for the part."

Who was I most surprised to see? Filmmaker Sharat Katariya (Dum Laga Ke Haisha), as an extra-submissive guy, blatantly tormented by Sohrab (Vinay), and therefore - like everybody else - key suspect for the said murder.

Rajat says, "That's also how Vinay behaves with Sharat as a friend," in real life. Hence, Sharat was brought onboard, because actor Manu Rishi had to opt out 15 days before shoot.

Manu is a Rajat-regular. As are Ranvir Shorey, Saurabh Shukla (who plays the cop). Vinay Pathak, of course, is often the co-actor with Rajat, including Bheja Fry (2007), where Vinay played the bloke being bullied, instead!

Rajat's technical crew remains the same too - Meenal Agarwal (production designer), Rafey Mehmood (cinematographer), Suresh Pai (editor), Resul Pookutty (sound designer), Sagar Desai
(music composer)….

I guess this sorta continuity lends the production a natural sense of play - as in riffing off each other. Check the dumb charades sequence, in particular. Could be straight outta your own house party.

Rajat debuted as director with the film-noir, Private Detective (1997), that also involved a murder. It never got released. I did once get hold of its tape to restore and screen at a festival I was curating. The so-called film conservationist champion disappeared, because he saw no personal fame in doing it.

Rajat's RK/Rkay (2021) - an absolute entertainer, about a character who vanishes from a movie screen in its raw footage - is yet to release. ELSH premiered at MAMI in 2023, three years before it's dropped on Zee5.

I wonder if everybody must love Rajat more? He sighs, "In a parallel universe, I could be Rajat Kapoor, who's only made Private Detective; he's doing theatre, and he's happy. That's a clear possibility. The fact that I've made nine films - just the way I wanted to - itself is huge!"

Mayank Shekhar attempts to make sense of mass culture. He tweets @mayankw14
Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com
The views expressed in this column are the individual's and don't represent those of the paper.