Ek Chatur Naar Highlights Umesh Shukla’s Return with Dark Humor

Ek Chatur Naar, which hit theatres on September 12 under the direction of Umesh Shukla, is being viewed as a stylistic departure from his earlier, lighter films. Starring Divya Khosla Kumar as a cunning small-town woman and Neil Nitin Mukesh as a charmed but morally compromised man, the film offers a darkly comic tale of manipulation, ambition, and social climbing.

In interviews, Shukla described Ek Chatur Naar as “a sharp look at how people reinvent themselves—sometimes deceptively—to survive in a world that undervalues sincerity.” The plot follows Divya’s character as she schemes her way into social relevance, only to find herself tangled in consequences she didn’t foresee. Neil Nitin Mukesh’s character represents the gullible idealist who is both enchanted and ensnared by her facade.

Critics have praised the film’s moral complexity, noting how it avoids outright villainy. The protagonists are neither pure heroes nor outright villains—they’re morally grey, making choices that are selfish, desperate, and sometimes cruel. This ambiguity keeps the audience off-balance, unsure whom to root for.

Standout scenes include a series of staged “charity events” that the female lead orchestrates to build public goodwill—each event growing more elaborate and morally dubious. These sequences are punctuated by tense confrontations that reveal just how far she is willing to go. Equally compelling are moments of introspection, where characters face the fallout of their own deceit.

On the downside, a few reviews have pointed to pacing issues in the second half—particularly a stretch where the script leans heavily on monologues about identity and authenticity, slowing down the narrative drive. But many viewers say this slowdown is worth it, arguing that the deeper psychological exploration is what gives the film its emotional weight.

The film is being discussed as a sign that Umesh Shukla is evolving as a filmmaker—willing to take risks outside the comfort zone of feel-good comedy and into stories that unsettle and provoke. For Divya Khosla Kumar and Neil Nitin Mukesh, Ek Chatur Naar is being seen as a bold career choice: a chance to play characters with moral shades and flaws, rather than just archetypes.

Whether Ek Chatur Naar finds a wide audience remains to be seen, but it's already generating talk as one of September’s more intellectually engaging Bollywood releases.