Ulajh

Ulajh (2024) : Movie Review -

Sudhanshu Saria brings a new spy thriller to Bollywood-new because it belongs to a new sub-genre; otherwise, we have had several spy thrillers in Bollywood. Ulajh is Bollywood's first film based on foreign services, which makes it "new," but sadly, the formulas it uses are too "old." Let's see what those formulas are: scapegoat, rat in your own house, honey trap, and fugitive. It's been decades-I mean, too many decades-since old Hollywood made spy thrillers on the same, which later got glamorous with James Bond and so on. The recent classic and the best one has to be "Infernal Affairs" (2002), which was remade in Hollywood as "The Departed" (2006) and won 4 Oscars too. Ulajh could have been that (for India), and it seemed so, at least from the trailer. However, the final output is nowhere close to that classic, and moreover, we don't even get a decent film. That's so disappointing.

Since there can't be any spoilers, let me be brief. Suhana Bhatia (Janhvi Kapoor) is appointed as the deputy high commissioner of India in Britain at a young age, and many call it a power of nepotism. She meets Nakul (Gulshan Devaiah), and soon they get intimate, as both are lonely in this new country and in need of a partner-a friend, to be more precise. Suhana's just cuddling happiness, and it turns into a nightmare when she realizes that she has been used as a scapegoat and will soon lose her position, respect, and family. Will this scapegoat be able to eat the tiger? (as she says in the trailer).

As mentioned earlier, Ulajh has many outdated formulas, and they don't have anything exciting to offer. Moreover, the film is immoderately slow and bores you with many cliches. India vs. Pakistan relations, peace treaty, friendly visit, ISI, R&AW, inside stool pegion, betrayals, and heartbreaks-you get to see all these things, but don't tell me you haven't seen them before. Ulajh messes itself within many taboos that could have been broken, and the pacy screenplay could have saved it from disaster results, but it played too safe to be called a modern Spy thriller. The screenplay just does not hold you. The dialogues are weak, and the characters lack depth as well. Overall, whatever comes your way is either rotten or half-baked.

Janhvi Kapoor's accent bothers again, but this time it's more annoying because she is playing a high-ranking officer. Though too young, there could have been layers that the writer fails to add, and Janhvi herself attempts no such thing as "efforts." The looks and glam appeal don't help here since the character's demand was exactly opposite. Roshan Mathew suffers from low screen space but covers up a lot in the second half. Gulshan Devaiah seems to have enjoyed the satirical and sarcastic character here, but it's pretty hard to digest. Can't reveal much here, but the character graph isn't what you expect at those moments. Meiyang Chang and Jitendra Joshi have done well despite small roles, while Rajesh Tailang and Adil Hussain add their two bits of experience and talent to messy characters.

Being a spy thriller Ulajh should have stayed away from typical Bollywood glamour, songs, and melodrama, but it just can't be helped sometimes. The music comes and goes, only to add a few more minutes to your boredom. I'd like to watch "Shaukan" separately on YouTube (4K) and enjoy Janhvi's sexy moves and dresses, but I wouldn't really want such a song in a thriller movie. Ulajh also fails at editing because the grip to hold you for 130 minutes is not there. The cinematography and sound design were okay. The film has been shot overseas and looks lavish-all thanks to the good production design. Sudhanshu Saria wanted to make "Infernal Affairs" but ended up making "Internal Affairs," or, can I say, "Private Affairs." A female-led spy thriller about a patriotic officer can't get too personal. The audience would lose connect with the character, and it's a simple equation to understand-very well known to every film maker. Had it been more about the nation and suspense and less about private life, family, death-boring India-Pak conflicts, and too much drama, Ulajh would have been a decent flick. For now, all I can say is "Film Ulajh gayi."

RATING - 4/10*

I went into Ulajh Premier last night without high expectations, and, honestly, I'm not a big fan of Janhvi Kapoor. However, I left the theatre pleasantly surprised. The film maintained a consistent pace throughout, with plenty of twists and thrills to keep you engaged. One of the highlights is that the movie doesn't waste any time diving into the main story.

The entire cast delivered strong performances, and the sound design and cinematography were top-notch. However, I felt there could have been an additional scene before Janhvi's character goes out with Gulshan to better establish their relationship. Additionally, Gulshan's character could have been more consistent throughout the film. One technical aspect that puzzled me was the choice to use a 16:10 aspect ratio for cinema viewing, which seemed unusual.

Ignore the so-called critic reviews; many seem to thrive on negativity. Give Ulajh a shot-you won't regret it.

Who are these people giving 10 star reviews to this trite? Paid PR or Jahnvi Fan Club?

For someone who is a Deputy High Commissioner for the Indian Embassy in the UK, Jahnavi Kapoor's character is extremely incompetent, naive and downright stupid.

Also, the logistics of the whole thing are extremely stupid. Meaning, Jahnavi's character who is such a high ranking officer does not have any security (not even a PA for company). She comes and goes whenever and wherever she likes. Even the apartment she lives in has one wall which is completely french windows. The first scene I saw that, I knew someone's getting shot at through that window.

She keeps on meeting Gulshan Devaiah unattended. And he keeps on blackmailing her based on these meetings on a continuous basis. But Jahnavi is such an idiot, she just doesn't get it. Why would you go in-person to be blackmailed? Such weak writing.

Such a cast of dumb characters, each one of them. Devaiah's character's tone keeps changing from scene to scene. It was so irritating.

I am through 75 minutes, but I don't think I am gonna finish this movie. I couldn't care less.

There are a lot of paid PR bots here to make this film sound like a great film but its not. Jhanvi was horrible in the film and peiple should not be misguided to watch her on screen. No matter how much of paid PR bots try and give the film excellent review the collections will not come in and they all will be flopped.

This film was a snooze fest and draggy after a good interval. Jhanvi was as usual lazy and underconfident with her lines.

Saving grace is gulshan who stands out almost everytime he comes on screen. He is brilliant with his voice modulation and expressions.

Giving this film 3 stars. And all 3 of them are for gulshan.

Suhana Bhatia (Janhvi Kapoor) is the third generation diplomat, carrying the weight of her family legacy. She becomes the youngest Deputy Commissioner at Indian High Commission in UK, after impressing with her excellent diplomatic skills. Her colleagues are not impressed with her being chosen for the post but she promises her father to excel in the job she has earned. Meanwhile, newly Pakistan PM is all about re-building friendship with India and for the same, he has agreed to extradite a terrorist back to India. Suhana gets charmed by Michelin chef Nakul at a Gala who soon traps her by revealing his identity. To cover up her mistake, she has been given the choice of treason. In her attempt to fight back, what conspiracy she uncovers and how does she get out of this mess, forms rest of the story.

Sudhanshu Saria has co-written a middling screenplay that is infact decent in the first half. It is the second half where the film falters as the conspiracy unravels and the writing complicates the proceedings, only for resorting to convenient resolution. The director takes a realistic approach with his narrative while establishing the character of Suhana and her job. The first half succeeds in showcasing Suhana getting trapped in a mess and being threatened to indulge in treason. It builds up the story to see how a diplomat can get out of this, without having any field training. But the second half pushes her to act like a field agent and the narrative starts losing focus. This is solely because the unnecessary need for using the second half as a build up for a sequel. Janhvi does well as Suhana and has a strong supporting cast to aid her but the writing undoes the efforts.