Ulajh review: Too entangled to be an intriguing spy thriller

Sudhanshu Saria’s Ulajh is too loose-ended to take it seriously for its hidden message and too underwritten to keep you on the edge of your seat! 

Have you ever watched a film where the politics is so interesting but undone by its own making? Well, Ulajh is that film for you! Layered with the debate of nepotism in the context of national security and also of Bollywood, the film forgets to stand on its own two feet. And if you, like me, are a huge fan of spy thrillers and enjoy solving a good mystery, this film will also disappoint you in that area.  

Spy-thrillers are a hotbed for making hidden commentary, and I would give it to the makers of this film who seized this opportunity! They showcase the controversial issue of insider-outsider wrapped in a matter of national interest, asking you to draw parallels and read between the lines. The plot uses Jahnvi Kapoor as a metaphor and follows a young IFS officer, Suhana Bhatia (Janhvi), who comes from a family lineage of bureaucrats working for the country. She is an ambitious woman with a few dodgy moves up her sleeve who desperately wants to prove her mettle to the world and be known for more than her surname while earning her father’s trust. Unfortunately, her sheltered naivety costs her, and she becomes a pawn in a web of deceit and conspiracies between India and Pakistan. It’s the journey of an insider who, while fighting accusations of favouritism, deals with the blackmail that makes her choose between her loyalty to the country and her legacy's honour. 

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The film’s design is deliberate and follows a quick succession of events that does not wait to unfold or prod each and everything. I like that Sudhanshu Saria wants to appreciate the audience's intelligence, but that does not mean that the film should flow so blandly that it cannot build any emotional connection! After all, it’s a spy-thriller based in London. It needs tension that cannot just be built by the sudden rise and cut of background music or the in and out of characters. Hence, even while you understandably question Suhana’s decision-making skills, you cannot fear or even feel for her or her patriotism. The screenplay by Paraveez Sheik and Saria himself is so underwritten that the film feels like the innocent Sehmat of Raazi got upgraded and met a Western version of spy thrillers, only to get confused and not know what to be anymore. 

Though I liked the camera work by Shreya Dev Dubey and editing by Nitin Baid, and also the sly cheekiness of the film, where deserving RAW agents are sidelined (played by a talented cast), or Janhvi is named Suhana. But it’s hard to ignore the film’s unnecessary confusion to build up predictable mysteries and easy access to vital info. Janhvi, even with her monotonous performance, still works as Suhana, who has a one-note path. I was heavily thrown off by Gulshan Devaiah’s excessively loud performance, though, and even his chemistry with Janhvi felt odd! The rest of the cast, including Rajesh Tailang, Adil Hussain, Roshan Matthew, and others, did their best with whatever they got. 

Given the ending, this film might be an introduction to expand into a spy universe. Even if that’s the case, this part doesn’t develop enough to generate interest for upcoming films ahead. In hindsight, the film could be read as Suhana cementing a case for Jahnvi's acting talents, where she becomes more than her family name and a patriotic film that doesn't villainize a particular nation but finds faults within one's own. But what good is subtext when the text is all muddled up? Disappointingly, it's a smart film on paper, but in translation, it just simply loses out on its own potential and an exceptionally talented cast! 

Ulajh is currently running in theatres near you!

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