The Threshold

The Threshold - a sixty something couple Rinku (Neena Gupta) and Raj (Rajit Kapoor) has just seen off guests after their son's wedding reception at their mountain retreat, a beautiful bungalow by the stream. This is when Rinku tells Raj about her decision to leave him and go away.

The Threshold is about the penultimate day for the married couple living together and an introspection about the many years together, but not the positives. It is Rinku's reproach to Raj about all that she has had to bear because of misogyny, the patriarchal nature, the lack of empathy and how she is no longer able to compromise with the attitude. Raj doesn't quietly surrender either - at first he offers explanations and soon, it turns into an affair of trading charges containing barbs. It's a long day and night with tumultuous emotions, but always remaining grounded to their immense probability of becoming the story of every couple that lives in a long matrimony. It's so often that we take the spouse for granted.

Director Pushan Kripalani directs the two veterans with a natural flair. Neena Gupta has the upper hand, but Rajit Kapoor gives a great underdog performance, mostly being at the receiving end of the barbs. The Threshold is a tad slow and lacks additional characters, but then I gauge that on the penultimate day of the dreaded separation, there's no space for a third person in the relationship.