# Choked (film)
**Choked: Paisa Bolta Hai** is a 2020 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by [Anurag Kashyap](https://www.edgepedia.org/anurag-kashyap) and written by Nihit Bhave, released on Netflix on June 5, 2020.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11651780/) Its title translates roughly as "money speaks." The film follows Sarita Pillai, a bank cashier in Mumbai who finds bundles of cash emerging from her kitchen sink, just before the demonetisation of high-value banknotes announced by the Indian government on November 8, 2016 renders much of the country's currency invalid.[2](https://www.netflix.com/ca/title/81176968) • [3](https://feminisminindia.com/2020/07/07/netflix-choked-review-gender-dynamics/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | June 5, 2020, as a Netflix original film[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11651780/) |
| Director / writer | Anurag Kashyap (director); Nihit Bhave (writer)[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11651780/) |
| Runtime | 114 minutes[4](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/choked-paisa-bolta-hai/kQaivnEbuIt3R8mj1PemP4/credits/) |
| Lead cast | Saiyami Kher (Sarita Pillai), Roshan Mathew (Sushant Pillai), Amruta Subhash (Sharvari Taai)[2](https://www.netflix.com/ca/title/81176968) |
| Setting | Mumbai, against the backdrop of the November 2016 demonetisation[3](https://feminisminindia.com/2020/07/07/netflix-choked-review-gender-dynamics/) |
| Production | Good Bad Films, Kashyap's first film under the company[5](https://www.filmfare.com/interviews/only-the-aatmanirbhar-will-survive-anurag-kashyap-41399.html) |
| Reception | IMDb rating 5.7/10 from about 6,100 users; 1 win and 17 nominations[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11651780/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and premise
Sarita Pillai (Saiyami Kher) is a bank teller supporting a family of three in a middle-class Maharashtrian apartment in Mumbai. Her husband Sushant ([Roshan Mathew](https://www.edgepedia.org/roshan-mathew)) is an out-of-work musician in debt, and Sarita herself is a former aspiring singer who abandoned performing after choking on stage at a talent show.[6](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/reviews/something/2020/Jun/05/choked-movie-review-a-minor-thriller-on-the-curses-of-cash-18768.html) • [7](https://www.peepingmoon.com/reviews/news/45657/article.html) One night, bundles of cash begin bubbling up through her kitchen sink drainpipe, a windfall she first uses to pay off a loan shark chasing Sushant.[6](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/reviews/something/2020/Jun/05/choked-movie-review-a-minor-thriller-on-the-curses-of-cash-18768.html) • [8](https://scroll.in/reel/963639/choked-paisa-bolta-hai-review-strong-performances-anchor-a-wandering-plot)
The windfall turns into a liability when demonetisation is announced: the notes she has hoarded become worthless, prying neighbors try to get in on the secret, and Sarita is caught in a tightening spot.[6](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/reviews/something/2020/Jun/05/choked-movie-review-a-minor-thriller-on-the-curses-of-cash-18768.html) The film begins in October 2016, a month before the policy change whose repercussions, including long queues at Sarita's bank and spells of cash shortage, drive the second half.[8](https://scroll.in/reel/963639/choked-paisa-bolta-hai-review-strong-performances-anchor-a-wandering-plot)
## Development
**A script rewritten around demonetisation.** Nihit Bhave wrote the original script in 2013, before demonetisation existed as policy, and has said the film was never intended to be about it: "It has always been about a couple and the issues that money brings into their marriage."[9](https://www.indiatoday.in/amp/movies/celebrities/story/choked-writer-nihit-bhave-i-am-happy-that-anurag-dealt-with-demonetisation-in-a-neutral-way-1687975-2020-06-11) Anurag Kashyap acquired the script in 2015 through a script marketplace, felt it lacked something, and after demonetisation was announced, Bhave rewrote it to incorporate the event.[5](https://www.filmfare.com/interviews/only-the-aatmanirbhar-will-survive-anurag-kashyap-41399.html) • [10](https://www.grazia.co.in/people/in-conversation-with-chokeds-director-anurag-kashyap-5101.amp) Bhave has described the idea as taking shape during his daily Mumbai local train commute, where he wanted money to function as "the other man/woman," the third wheel in a marriage.[11](https://vaguevisages.com/2020/08/21/an-interview-with-choked-screenwriter-nihit-brave/)
Bhave drew Sarita and the neighbor Sharvari Taai ([Amruta Subhash](https://www.edgepedia.org/amruta-subhash)) from his own middle-class Maharashtrian background, noting the strong survival instincts he had observed in Maharashtrian women who work outside the home and manage it as well.[9](https://www.indiatoday.in/amp/movies/celebrities/story/choked-writer-nihit-bhave-i-am-happy-that-anurag-dealt-with-demonetisation-in-a-neutral-way-1687975-2020-06-11) Saiyami Kher was cast in late 2016 and gained weight for the role of a mother of an eight-year-old; Roshan Mathew was locked in 2018.[5](https://www.filmfare.com/interviews/only-the-aatmanirbhar-will-survive-anurag-kashyap-41399.html)
## Production and release
The film was the first production of Good Bad Films, the company Kashyap formed with partners Akshay Thakker and Dhruv Jagasia; [Ajay Rai](https://www.edgepedia.org/ajay-rai) and Dhruv Jagasia are credited as producers.[5](https://www.filmfare.com/interviews/only-the-aatmanirbhar-will-survive-anurag-kashyap-41399.html) • [4](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/choked-paisa-bolta-hai/kQaivnEbuIt3R8mj1PemP4/credits/) Sylvester Fonseca was the director of photography, Konark Saxena the editor, and Ravi Srivastava the production designer.[4](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/choked-paisa-bolta-hai/kQaivnEbuIt3R8mj1PemP4/credits/) Music credits differ between databases: Moviefone credits Rachita Arora as composer, while Crew United and [BookMyShow](https://www.edgepedia.org/bookmyshow) list Karsh Kale as composer with Rachita Arora and Swaroop Khan as singers.[4](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/choked-paisa-bolta-hai/kQaivnEbuIt3R8mj1PemP4/credits/) • [12](https://www.crew-united.com/en/Choked-Paisa-Bolta-Hai__273224.html) • [13](https://in.bookmyshow.com/movies/choked-paisa-bolta-hai/ET00131283)
The film streams on Netflix and runs 114 minutes according to most listings, though Common Sense Media gives 104 minutes.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11651780/) • [14](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/choked-paisa-bolta-hai) The dialogue moves among Hindi, Marathi, and Malayalam.[7](https://www.peepingmoon.com/reviews/news/45657/article.html)
## Themes and reception
Kashyap and Bhave both framed the film as a marriage story with demonetisation as backdrop rather than subject. Bhave said he was pleased that Kashyap, who is vocal about Indian politics, handled the policy in a neutral way, so that for a general viewer it reads more like documentation than commentary.[9](https://www.indiatoday.in/amp/movies/celebrities/story/choked-writer-nihit-bhave-i-am-happy-that-anurag-dealt-with-demonetisation-in-a-neutral-way-1687975-2020-06-11) Kashyap said each character's politics follows from their individual expectations from life, and that imposing his own politics would have turned the film into propaganda.[10](https://www.grazia.co.in/people/in-conversation-with-chokeds-director-anurag-kashyap-5101.amp)
Critical response was mixed. Scroll.in's review found strong performances anchoring a wandering plot.[8](https://scroll.in/reel/963639/choked-paisa-bolta-hai-review-strong-performances-anchor-a-wandering-plot) The Cinema Express review rated it 2.5 out of 5, calling it a minor thriller in which the script loses cohesion as it weaves in the aftershocks of demonetisation.[6](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/reviews/something/2020/Jun/05/choked-movie-review-a-minor-thriller-on-the-curses-of-cash-18768.html) A feminist review at [Feminism in India](https://www.edgepedia.org/feminism-in-india) read Sarita as establishing a non-conformist relationship with money amid the deglamorized depiction of lower-middle-class aspiration.[3](https://feminisminindia.com/2020/07/07/netflix-choked-review-gender-dynamics/) On IMDb the film holds a 5.7/10 rating from about 6,100 users, with 1 win and 17 nominations overall.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11651780/)
## References
1. [Choked (2020), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11651780/)
2. [Choked: Paisa Bolta Hai, Netflix official site](https://www.netflix.com/ca/title/81176968)
3. [Film Review: Gender Dynamics In Choked: Paisa Bolta Hai, Feminism in India](https://feminisminindia.com/2020/07/07/netflix-choked-review-gender-dynamics/)
4. [Choked: Paisa Bolta Hai Cast & Crew, Moviefone](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/choked-paisa-bolta-hai/kQaivnEbuIt3R8mj1PemP4/credits/)
5. ["Only the aatmanirbhar will survive" - Anurag Kashyap, Filmfare](https://www.filmfare.com/interviews/only-the-aatmanirbhar-will-survive-anurag-kashyap-41399.html)
6. [Choked Movie Review: A minor thriller on the curses of cash, Cinema Express](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/reviews/something/2020/Jun/05/choked-movie-review-a-minor-thriller-on-the-curses-of-cash-18768.html)
7. [Choked-Paisa Bolta Hai review, PeepingMoon](https://www.peepingmoon.com/reviews/news/45657/article.html)
8. [Choked: Paisa Bolta Hai OTT review, Scroll.in](https://scroll.in/reel/963639/choked-paisa-bolta-hai-review-strong-performances-anchor-a-wandering-plot)
9. [Choked writer Nihit Bhave interview, India Today](https://www.indiatoday.in/amp/movies/celebrities/story/choked-writer-nihit-bhave-i-am-happy-that-anurag-dealt-with-demonetisation-in-a-neutral-way-1687975-2020-06-11)
10. [In Conversation With Choked's Director, Anurag Kashyap, Grazia India](https://www.grazia.co.in/people/in-conversation-with-chokeds-director-anurag-kashyap-5101.amp)
11. [An Interview with Choked Screenwriter Nihit Bhave, Vague Visages](https://vaguevisages.com/2020/08/21/an-interview-with-choked-screenwriter-nihit-brave/)
12. [Choked - Paisa Bolta Hai, Crew United](https://www.crew-united.com/en/Choked-Paisa-Bolta-Hai__273224.html)
13. [Choked: Paisa Bolta Hai, BookMyShow](https://in.bookmyshow.com/movies/choked-paisa-bolta-hai/ET00131283)
14. [Choked: Paisa Bolta Hai Parents' Guide, Common Sense Media](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/choked-paisa-bolta-hai)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Indian films (individual works) › Hindi films of the 2020s › Hindi films of 2020*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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