Ulajh REVIEW: Janhvi Kapoor starrer fails to thrill with its predictable spy story

Film:
Ulajh

Director: Sudhanshu Saria

Writers: Sudhanshu Saria, Parveez Shaikh

Cast: Janhvi Kapoor, Roshan Mathew, Gulshan Devaiah, Adil Hussain, Meiyang Chang, Rajesh Tailang, Rajendra Gupta, Jitendra Joshi, Sakshi Tanwar

Runtime: 134 minutes

Platform: In theatres

Ulajh Review

Ulajh is the story of Suhana Bhatia – a young IFS officer with a legacy of patriots in her family. Suhana is sent to the London Embassy and within months, she gets entangled in a dangerous conspiracy that messes with both her personal and professional lives. Will she be successfully in untangling the knot and making her life as mundane as it was earlier? Read our Ulajh review for a glimpse into the Janhvi Kapoor starrer.

What’s Works

Aside from the acting of the ensemble cast – especially Janhvi Kapoor (during certain scenes) Gulshan Devaiah and Rajendra Gupta and a little realism in how cut-throat society is, there’s nothing much that works in favour for the film.

What Doesn’t Work

The music, the film’s slow pace, the predictable storyline, and even the plot twist – all underperform and make the spy thriller lose the essence of being a spy film or a thriller film.

Technical Analysis

Story

Written by Sudhanshu Saria and Parveez Shaikh, Ulajh is the story of Suhana Bhatia (Janhvi Kapoor) a young IFS officer who is appointed as the Deputy High commissioner at India’s London Embassy. Hailing from a family of patriots, Suhana’s main focus in life is service to her country even if it means she has to give up on love. While in London, she gets entangled in a dangerous conspiracy that forces her to choose between her nation – and safeguarding its intresests and assets, or her family’s pride.

During her time in London, she gets into a relationship with Nakul Bhatia (Gulshan Devaiah). On the professional front, we meet Salim Sayeed (Rajesh Tailang) – her driver, Sebin Joseph Kutty (Roshan Mathew) – a RAW agent at the Embassy, Jacob Tamang (Meiyang Chang) and many more characters. Who turns out to be what – despite seeming interesting, is predictable to a great extend. You are likely to even guess the twist that are to come.

The narrative is slow-paced and make the 2 hours seem way longer than 120 minutes. If you are wondering why I only spoke about 120 minutes being stretched and not the remaining 14, that because it’s the climax and that’s the only fast-paced portion of Ujalh.

Direction & Cinematography

The direction by Sudhanshu Saria and cinematography by Shreya Dev Dube is nothing special. It’s basic. The lighting, camera angles and movements are typical of spy thrillers. Saria’s direction too fails to impress despite the actor’s giving their characters their all.

Editing

Nitin Baid, did you even edit the film? The slow-paced nature of the film will make you ask this question within the first 20 minutes of Ulajh. There seems to be little to no edition done and we wonder why cause even if you watch this film on 1.25x speed you will hardly miss anything.

Music

The music provided by Shashwat Sachdev is mediocre. Nothing more to say. Sorry.

Ulajh Star Performances

Janhvi Kapoor is showing improvement in her craft. While there are instances where she shines – and proves she is Sridevi’s daughter, there are other instances where she appears the same like she did in her last couple of films.

Roshan Mathew as Sebin Joseph Kutty and Gulshan Devaiah as Nakul Bhatia/Humayun are the two other stars who gets the most screentime aside from Janhvi. They both pull off their parts well, but the star – without a doubt, is Gulshan. He’s a menace and he beautifully brings it to life.

Rajesh Tailang as Salim Sayeed – Suhana’s driver and confidant, has shades of gray. Though his character is interesting, it’s predictable. However, his acting is top-notch. We wish Meiyang Chang’s Jacob Tamang had more screentime. Adil Hussain as Dhanraj Bhatia, Rajendra Gupta as Manohar Rawal, Jitendra Joshi as Prakash Kamat and Sakshi Tanwar as Roshni Sengupta all have limited screentime but do justice to their roles.

Conclusion:

Janhvi Kapoor-led Ulajh is a predictable spy thriller that majorly skips the thrill part. With a slow-paced narrative – if it was a digital release you could watch it at 1.25x speed and not miss anything, and unimpressive music, BGM & direction, this spy thriller fails its mission despite commendable performances by Janhvi (she proves she can act – and act well during some scenes), Gulshan Devaiah, Meiyang Chang and Rajesh Tailang. Hope our Ulajh review proves helpful in deciding if you should give the Janhvi Kapoor starrer a watch in theatres.

Watch the trailer of Ulajh here:

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