Ulajh Movie Review — Sucharita Tyagi
To cowardly look away from the real life catastrophes unfolding in the world, give me a thriller any day of the week. Ki kuch aur nahi yeh manghadant pareshani toh solve kar lein 1.5 ghante mein aao.
Does Ulajh do the job?
Jahnvi Kapoor is Suhana. Kathmandu mein ek quick, ill-advised almost blackmail but not quite a maneuver of “diplomacy” ke baad, she is quickly appointed as India’s Deputy High Commissioner in London, a posting many around her feel she has received because of her family. Her father heads India at the UN now, and her grandfather we are told is taught in civic lessons at school.
London pohonch kar, Suhana VERY quickly finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy to destabilise the peace between India and Pakistan, out of viable options, due to no fault of her own, except being under-exposed to the world of espionage and hence entirely clueless.
Agar aapko Apple TV ke ‘Presumed Innoncent’, ‘Defending Jacob’ type ke shows dekhne pasand hai, jahaan the writing is engaging but simple enough for you to get involved in the solving of the case, Ulajh might be for you. This film might even feel like an escape room you can rent for an hour — once the clues are solved you realise how easy they were to begin with.
Written by Parveez Sheikh and director Sudhanshu Saria himself, Ulajh is consistently appealing. You never really see Suhana do any work tbh but initially, when doesn’t realize she’s bitten off more than she can chew, you don’t anticipate things getting complex as quick as they do. Until one after another, every passing day brings a new disaster. Jahnvi is sincere and adept, the actor has said in recent interviews that she took the role because it seemed cool to be able to play a person who is also accused of being where she is due to nepotism, but then be really really good at her job,. Here too, she has a famous last name, she calls her father “papa” the way the actor does IRL. While this may seem tailor made for her, it also makes it harder to separate Jahnvi and Suhana in the character's early introductory scenes. It doesn't help that you don't really get to know anything about Suhana beyond her desire to impress her father and that in moments of panic, she will physically lunge at whoever is threatening her. There isn’t much here that’s making Suhana Jahnvi’s own. It’s not a role she’s never done before, it’s not acting she may never do again. It's just….good.
Things get immeasurably more exciting when Gulshan Devaiah shows up as “Michelin star” chef Nakul. Suhana, who seemingly has always followed the rules, chooses to break them all when Nakul is around. Gulshan is competent and winsome as he always is, though I couldn’t quite figure out why there are at least three ENTIRELY different personalities he embodies through the film, even when by himself not interacting with anyone.
Roshan Mathew as RAW agent Sebin Kutty provides the little comic relief the film allows itself. Sort of leading the charge against the appointment of Suhana as DHC, Sebin initially comes across as your garden variety workplace sexist, which to a certain extent he is too. Gradually we get to see there’s more to him, perhaps even a softer masculine side where he’s willing to accept his prejudice. If the film really does have a sequel, as a scene toward the end promises, I hope Roshan comes back as Sebin.
Ulajh gains instant momentum when the Suhana steps into hostile territory. Her immediate confrontation with a premeditated attack also underscores the gender-specific challenges faced by women in high-stakes environments. However, by the time the final act rolls around, a lot of dramatic tension building is undone by the need for slow motion running shots and zara convoluted exposition. In a refreshing change of pace, while a power-hungry politician is planning a coup in Pakistan these plans are also aided and abetted by equally insecure Indians in high places. Nationalism or jingoism ko khoobsoorti se side-step karte huye.
Ulajh has every beat that makes for a fun, pulpy thriller story, occasionally crossing over in trope but quickly jumping back into place. The travails of being a young and relatively inexperienced women in the workplace, a terrorist being sent back from Pakistan, a sophisticated killers for hire training organization, Meiyang Chang looking sweet amd suspicious, Rajesh Tailang as the chatty driver, there is a LOT going on in Ulajh. What starts as a tense and fast-paced thriller crescendos quite marvelously in the middle but slows down as it approaches the climax, dragging out resolutions that could have been more concise. There are also some frustrating choices (a character is being blackmailed using basic hidden cam technology, but they won’t use the same to make THEIR case when they see the blackmailer again? CCTV lagaao, wire tap karo!), but overall Ulajh is a fun time at the movies.
