Xtreme Vogue Mumbai Desk: Komal Qureshi
Star Cast: Janhvi Kapoor, Gulshan Devaiah, Roshan Mathew, Meiyang Chang, Rajesh Tailang, Adil Hussain
Director: Sudhanshu Saria
Review Synopsis:
ULAJH is the story of a government officer sucked into dangerous circumstances. Suhana Bhatia (Janhvi Kapoor) works for the Indian embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal. She comes from a reputed family whose members have served the nation in foreign services. Suhana is informed that she’s asked to join the embassy in London that too for the post of Deputy High Commissioner. Suhana’s family is overjoyed but her father Dhanraj Bhatia (Adil Hussain) is a little apprehensive as it’s unusual for a young person to bag such a coveted post. Suhana joins work in London and she gets unfriendly treatment from Jacob Tamang (Meiyang Chang), who believes that he should have got the post. Sebin Josephkutty (Roshan Mathew), too, detests her as he is of the opinion that she got the position because of her lineage. At a party, Suhana meets the charming Nakul (Gulshan Devaiah). Both fall for each other. One day, Suhana gets the shock of her life as Nakul starts blackmailing her. He asks her to get sensitive information; or else, he’ll leak a video of them getting intimate. Suhana doesn’t want to go against the interests of the country. But she’s aware that if the video gets leaked, it’ll badly affect her family’s credibility. What happens next forms the rest of the film.
Story Review:
Parveez Shaikh and Sudhanshu Saria’s story is intriguing and could have made for a nail-biting thriller. Parveez Shaikh and Sudhanshu Saria’s screenplay, however, leaves a lot to be desired. Atika Chohan’s dialogues are normal.
Sudhanshu Saria’s direction is just okay. To give credit where it’s due, he gives the film a no-nonsense treatment. He also does a fine job in the climax as it makes for an edge-of-the-seat experience.
On the flipside, the film is confusing in many places. Viewers won’t be able to understand the whole hydrogen angle and how it got misused even after Suhana changed the digits. The film is also predictable. It’s not difficult to guess who is the mole in the London office and also what the plan of the villain is in the climax. For a film that’s narrated in a serious manner, a product placement shot stands out like a sore thumb and would raise laughs unintentionally. Lastly, the film is not shown in a normal aspect ratio and this gives a very film festival look.
Ulajh – Official Trailer | Janhvi Kapoor, Gulshan Devaiah, Roshan Mathew
Performances:
Janhvi Kapoor puts up a sincere effort. She suits the part of a bureaucrat who is compelled to get rough on the field. She is especially praiseworthy in the climax. Gulshan Devaiah rocks the show and it’s a role tailor-made for him. He adds a lot of entertaining bits to his mysterious part. Roshan Mathew is hardly there in the first half but leaves a mark after the intermission. He also raises laughs in the supermarket sequence. Meiyang Chang lends able support. Rajesh Tailang is terrific. Adil Hussain has a cameo at best and is dependable. Jitendra Joshi (Prakash Kamat) is good but is let down by the writing. Rushad Rana (Shahzad Alam) is lovely. Himanshu Malik (Yaseen Mirza) is wasted. Vivek Madan (Pakistan Defence Minister Umair Altaf), Rajendra Gupta (Manohar Rawal), Natasha Rastogi (Saroj Bhatia; Suhana’s mother), Alyy Khan (Ambassador Kazi), Jaimini Pathak (Sanjeev Bajpai), Alison Beneza (Elena) and Amit Tiwari Anand (Deputy Counsel Solanki) are fair.
Technical aspects:
The music is not of chartbuster variety though ‘Shaukan’ is energetic. While ‘Aaja Oye’ is played in the end credits, ‘Main Hoon Tera Ae Watan’ comes at the very beginning. ‘Ilahi Mere Rubaroo’ is placed at a crucial juncture and it works as it’s refreshing to see a qawwali after a long time in a Hindi film. Shashwat Sachdev’s background score is satisfactory.
Shreya Dev Dube’s cinematography is neat and captures some unexplored areas of London. Mansi Dhruv Mehta’s production design is rich. Nick Powell and Amritpal S’s action is realistic and also a bit disturbing but it’s as per the requirement of the script. Darshan Jalan’s costumes are straight out of real life. Nitin Baid’s editing is a bit slow in the first half.
Conclusion:
On the whole, ULAJH is a niche and confusing film which is devoid of any entertainment value. At the box office, it’ll largely go unnoticed.
