- Date of Release: 2nd August 2024
- Genre: Thriller
- Language: Hindi
- Watch On: Theatres Only
Ulajh
Introduction
After a point, I completely lost count of how many irrational liberties were taken in this film! I would keep the two Hindi films Khufiya and the newly released Ulajh in the same bracket. Both of them are slow burners, unfolding at a leisurely pace and setting a brooding mood that is quite understated in its approach. Yet, I still stand by the prowess of writing and direction that Khufiya had to offer(even if I am in the minority) given how tactfully the character motivations and character arcs were laid out. And how I wish I could say the same thing about Ulajh, except that the writing and the execution are the principle culprits here. Surely you can’t have character motivations left to the imagination of the viewers! Surely you can’t quite have the character arcs so frivolous that they are laughable in totality. Surely you can’t have most of the drama that unfolds offscreen, only for the viewers to fend for themselves on why the events are placed the way they are! And the biggest problem with Ulajh is that it aspires to be intellectual, when in reality it is silly and unintentionally funny! How can you take the drama seriously when there are just so many stray events, so half-hearted and clipped before they bloom with silliness gracing the occasion, that will make you wonder on how silly even folks from RAW can me. Tch tch! If you are still contemplating on whether to watch Ulajh, stick around for the full review!
Story & Screenplay
Ulajh follows the story of a young IFS officer who gets embroiled in a conspiracy while being far from home. And if you think what is wrong with the premise, I would just retort by saying that I haven’t yet accounted for the silliness in the writing. The story definitely gets the mood of the drama correct(I have to give it to the writers here, pun not intended) that definitely creates a brooding ambience with a pacing that is immersive. But the setting can just go this far in rescuing a drama that is laced with silliness. Picture this, the protagonist is touted as a young IFS officer and posted in London as a part of her official duty towards the Government. But one glance at her home and you see that there is not a single security guard, or even a single CCTV camera that would account for the act that she committed with a stranger. Such is the weak writing that is devoid of detailing that borders on being silly consistently over the course of the screenplay standing at 130 odd minutes.
There are early signs in the drama on how silly the proceedings are! Very early on, you are introduced to the young Prime Minister of Pakistan who vouches for a friendly political relation with India by volunteering to free one of the most wanted terrorists while visiting India during Independence Day. Now the catch is that Pakistan’s Independence Day is celebrated a day prior to India, so unsure on what the writers were smoking while introducing this plot point. What is even crazy is that a question about this was thrown in the screenplay too, but then there were no solid answers. And this quite honestly was the trend of most of the drama. Everything happens by accident and nothing strategically planned. Except the protagonist being honey-trapped by a stranger that she randomly meets at a party. I mean the protagonist is an IFS for God sake yet unfathomable on how naive she is, and how not a single thought passes her mind on her being embroiled in a larger conspiracy.
To be fair to the writing, the events do settle down to an extent even as the brooding mood of the drama works in the film’s favour. There are brief moments of tension that cuts through the simmering drama that always threatens to take off, but never quite does so. But it is here that the writers’ missed a trick of adding layers to the screenplay with respect to the character arcs of the characters. It could have been in the form of protagonist tapping into the identity of the stranger, as opposed to the stranger providing every single detail about himself which would have built an intimidating personality instead of it being one-dimensional. The massive twist at the halfway mark notwithstanding, the events become even more laughable with the introduction of the two RAW agents who openly reveal that they have entered the arena for an element of ‘surprise’. I mean Good God! All of this, while the writers believed that they were making an intellectual drama (with all the creative liberties in place, ROFL).
The silliness doesn’t end there! Clearly none of the Government officials have security guards that inevitably results in the death of a character(before revealing the true intentions of the character in the form of a twist). This brings out two characters almost being like fugitives and ought to have surveillance on them. But no! They jump countries in a matter of scenes only to bring the conspiracy hotspot to India featuring a potential assassination attempt. Again the writers would like to believe that the writing is intellectual, almost coaxing the viewers to recall the smallest of details uttered casually by characters as a part of a quick flashback. Here, the mood of the drama completely shifts, almost into a spy territory out of nowhere leading to a cliched finale act that did simmer with the tension but ended rather abruptly. Imagine that the writers had the audacity to completely skip the motivations of a few characters with no backstory at all while weaving a little subplot that sets things to perspective for its next part! Good Lord, I wonder how this piece of writing was greenlit in the first place!
Dialogues, Music & Direction
I liked the grounded nature of the lines by Atika Chouhan that definitely felt well integrated with the world that the drama was built in. The music is decent, but I cannot remember the tune of a single song as I am penning this review, which showcases how forgettable the soundtrack is. The BGM is good while simmering the tension and creating artificial excitement for the viewers(given its abysmal writing). The cinematography and lighting are pretty impressive in creating a brooding ambience that works rather well for the drama. The editing is so choppy in places that it results in unintentional bouts of humour in the screenplay (the episode of two characters wanted for their actions switch countries in a matter of two scenes, ROFL). Director Sudhanshu Saria completely misses the bus with the execution here. While he is effective in the world building aspect of the drama, he miserably suffers with the characterization, offering no arcs at all whilst also inexplicitly hiding the motivations of so many characters (and never to reveal it even at the end). The direction seemed to be pretty lazy while again trying to be intellectual, and it does result in the downfall of the drama (and how).
Performances
I feel sorry for most of the cast members given that they are such prolific actors but almost all of them are underutilized and without proper character arcs(and I am intentionally skipping character names to avoid spoilers should you still choose to watch this film). Talented actors like Jaimini Pathak, Rushad Rana, Vivek Madaan, Jitendra Joshi and Adil Hussain are absolutely wasted wherein they have literally very little do to in the overall scheme of things. Likewise for Meiyang Chang who is nicely understated but is never fully allowed to bloom in the screenplay. Rajesh Tailang has an interesting character that is seemingly layered but again cut short by the abysmal writing. Even a talented actor like Roshan Mathew is reduced to a sidekick that doesn’t really have any identity of his own for most parts of the drama. Gulshan Devaiah was again an interesting character on paper and while he does manage to shine briefly, the writing is so weak that it offers no layers thereby reducing him to a one-dimensional character(and kudos to him for still making it work). The entire screenplay is centered around Jahnvi Kapoor and I must say that she does make the most of this opportunity. She is pretty impressive even while emoting in a sedate manner, only briefly stuttering in high intensity verbal scenes. But overall, this is a step ahead for Jahnvi, performance wise. The only issue is that it has come in a rather silly film.
Conclusion
Ulajh is a wannabe ‘spy’ thriller that tries to be smarter than it actually is! Such is the silliness of the writing and its execution that the film will always come second in a two-horse race. The same does result in unintentional bouts of humour even as the makers continue to believe that they are creating a rather intellectual drama without accounting for several bouts of silliness! After a point, I completely lost count of how many irrational liberties were taken in this film! And that quite honestly sums up the drama! Available in a theatre near you.
