A Death in the Gunj

A Death in the Gunj

The movie got released with Wonder Woman, you can imagine how empty the movie hall would be when I went to watch this. The movie is a directorial debut of Konkona Sen Sharma. It is a story of 1979 when a family visits McCluskiengank, and the events which unfold thereafter. Film is majorly focused on Shutu played by Vikrant Massey who has come to be with his family after completing his studies at Calcutta. As soon as the film starts, you get a feel that now something will happen, something thrilling, something which might leave you in shock or surprise, but to my disappointment, no such thing happens in the movie. And this does not happens only once, this cycle keeps on repeating, the film will give you an expectations by playing suspenseful music, gripping direction but at the end the movie will leave you with nothing. The movie is not for mass audience, it is only for class audience and that too I am not sure of. One thing which I liked about the movie was that the background music which they have used is some kind of folklore and its really good.

Art Cinema is not just showing random bits from common peoples lives for an hour and then expecting the audience to like it because of course this is not "mainstream cinema". Art cinema is not trying to portray characters abruptly in a light, at the end of the movie, that doesn't convince you fully about them from what you understand from the rest of the movie. And certainly A Death In The Gunj is not what Art Cinema is. Shutu is a 21-ish guy who is spending some time with his mothers' sisters' family in a small town in Jharkand. On an average day Shutu is perfectly normal. He rides his bike with Mimi(Kalki Coechin) pillioned on it. He can make out with her quietly. He behaves normally in almost all situations as a 21 year adult would. But since there has to be some dark side to his personality too(or how would you make Art Cinema), there is a scene where he gets up from the bed in the middle of the night and hides behind an Almirah making strange sounds(this scene which tries to show he is somewhat mentally unsound has no reference in the whole story). He has lost his father recently and to show he hasn't gotten over it, he keeps wearing his fathers sweater. He goes to post office to call his mother(remember this is 1970s) in some other town but keeps the phone on hold and doesn't speak a word to her as she pleads her to come home. And he is treated like a servant sometimes by her Mausi's family. There is this guy Vikram(Ranvir Shorey) who seems to dislike Shutu to the hilt. So in the end , Shutu takes the gun from Om Puri, whose talent has been totally wasted in the movie, and shoots himself. Thats it . Thats how I felt at the end. Unexplained sudden action at the end of a movie from a character that is supposed to give orgasms to "Art Cinema" lovers of India. I want to get my 120 minutes back from the person who called it a Thriller and made me watch this drag of a movie which turned out to be a pretentious dud. Please Konkana Sen Sharma , learn from Lootera what a non mainstream artsy movie should be. The first and last thing that must be there in a movie that claims to be such a highly acclaimed movie of 2017 has to be the story . None of which was on offer in this movie.

Too much overrated movie with a dumb story.. Expectations were too much from movie but a complete time waste...

Movie banana seekho pehele. ye kya random tha? Matlab kuch bhi daal do kya ? there is no story at all. So many good actors were just wasted. That Neerja actor had absolutely no role in the movie. At least Kuch story to hoti. Konkana Sen you can do better. Random Hindi English and Bengali dialogues. Why are these guys speaking English?? Whats up with the hair style ? This movie was just a total time waste. Pointless and directionless. Pretentious at best.

Today I saw "Death in the Gunj" It is a slow movie. But once you have patience and if you can soak into its characters - The Bangla bourgeois culture, their liberalism, their talks, the way they look and behave (making the casting perfect); and if you can sustain yourself absorbed till the end the impact of the movie is not good but Overwhelming... Especially for those who have a sensitive soul, who can feel deep down the anguish and pain of a single individual. Here the single individual is Shutu (Vikram Massey) whose character and psyche is known to us through peeling of each layer through small exchanges of dialogues and incidences. Shutu lost his father when he was 7 years, he does not have a good relation with his mother, who always scolds him, he is bad in studies, and has failed, he is bullied by his friends and talked down and even beaten by this elder brother. He is simple, shy, incoherent, child-like and finds solace and innocent friendship with his niece Tani (Arya Sharma) during a small gathering over a week with family and friends at a hill station house. Events unfold in such a way that Shutu is initiated to sex by Mimi (Kalki Koechlin) who just wants to have fun and get over her love for Vikram (Ranvir Shorey) who is marrying someone else. By the end of the movie things do not work out for Shutu who is ignored, forgotten by everyone and shunned even by the little girl Tani. Yet with love in his eyes he pins his hopes on Mimi who ignores his feelings and advices him to concentrate on studies and life (sounds so familiar). It is a psychological take on a simple boy Shutu who is driven to death, but unfolding of events – where everyone is unconsciously selfish (as a way of life) and happy with what one has in life – except Shutu, who feels lonely, ignored and useless (even being used by that little girl). While coming out of the theatre one feels, if once, someone – the little girl Tani, or Mimi would have held Shutu's hand and consoled him, would have given him strength and hope to live life. It is a great debut of Konkana Sen Sharma as a director. All the actors and actresses have acted superbly. Special mention of Vikram Massey as Shutu who lives his character's flaws like real. The slow and lingering shots are exquisite and a treat on the eye. The detailing is perfect. Music is appropriate with mix of a couple folk tunes and lingering sadness of violin. This movie is recommended for the typical arty type sensitive movie goers – who want to see good different cinema - This is the one! (Rating 7.5 out of 10)

There is so much wrong in "A Death in the Gunj. It is the directorial debut of Sen Sharma, who herself is a prolific actor. Hence there was lot of expectations from her. But unfortunately this film lacks depth. This film suffers from it's inconsistent themes and character play. I didn't understand any characters and their motives what so ever. The dialogues written for the characters sometimes don't justify the play and seems written by some school kid (And what's the motive for the inconsistent language of the film?). The lead character is supposed to be "on the edge" of his life but Massey's Shuttu never really justifies those emotions. Bad pretentious scripting just to make it "artsy". Moreover poor choice of music sinks the film for me further.

Was this a show Turner it was this a slow Turner... It was just so slow. The only character that stands out for crying out loud was the one who was crying in the entire movie, Dear Shuttu. Die already. You were a pain and sensitive cry baby who couldn't get over issues. Even after you had a chance to hook up with the only decent looking girl around. What a Shame.

I had to laugh: all the reviews waxing poetic and rhapsodizing over the story, the cast, the directorial debut. 9 stars, 8 stars. Then, the last review is a complete refutation of all the rest, wonderfully witty in its simplicity: "What a Bore." Hahaha. Too funny. This movie isn't a complete bore. It has a few redeeming qualities. It is a glimpse into another country, another time, another set of values. That said, I really don't know many people who would truly enjoy this film. I nearly stopped watching it a couple of times. And I will watch any movie on nearly any subject, made in any country----so long as it is well done. The only reason I hung in there was to see how Shutu bites the dust. This film is s-l-o-w. The bouncing back and forth between English and subtitles is a bit awkward. The whole movie has a sort of primitive, novice film-making feel to it. I sort of expected that, after sitting through the strange "Thank you to you and heartfelt thanks to you" bits dragging on and on before the story even started. This is another one of those "In the first five minutes we'll tell you who dies and then we'll spend another 90 minutes showing you how and why" movies. From the very beginning you know that it's Shutu who is going to wind up being smoothed into the fetal position in the trunk of the car. Also, within the first 10 minutes or so, you suspect it's that awful whiny kid who is going to be his undoing. Spoiler alert (in case you're a sadist, I don't want to ruin this for you): burning bugs with a magnifying glass and sunlight is really not my cup of tea. And it seems so out of place here. Isn't Shutu supposed to be the "sensitive one?" Is this cruel act supposed to foreshadow his own senseless self-destruction? (I wasn't at all surprised that the spoiled brat of a kid didn't turn a hair at killing something just for the fun of it.) Yeah. I blame her. I think Shutu could have survived failing his exams, disappointing his mother, getting bullied by the studly guy and then being rejected by studly guy's cast off "bit on the side." Shutu could have weathered all of that. It is the kid who pushed Shutu over the edge. He was so good to her. She turned out to be a jealous little bitch who made him out to be the bad guy. Sure, the rest of Shutu's family were a bunch of shallow, self-centered jerks. But they were all happy jerks. If not for that conniving brat . . . The kid is the villain. Shame on her. I hope she loses sleep over causing such a sweet, kind guy to blow his own brains out. Somehow I doubt she will care one lousy little iota. I think my favorite part of this movie was seeing the little tiny white letters: "Smoking Kills," every time someone lit up a cigarette. Now that's a terrific innovation we should definitely be including in all films, old and new.

It's a good film about a lovable loser. An adult who misses his father too much, flunks out of school and then lies about it, is awkward with women, cannot drive, etc. So naturally, his friends and cousins lovingly tease him, and his aunt gives him money to get him to visit his mother, and the hottie of the group willingly sleeps with him. He doesn't have it so bad!! Turns out, he really can't handle the pressures of life and blows his own brains out. I defy anyone to show me where the horror lies. Or the thriller aspect of this film. I discovered this movie because I read a great review of it in the NYer. She called it a horror film, so I was eager to see it. It's a fine family drama, but zero horror. Oh, and the NYer said that it becomes clear who is to blame for the guy's suicide, meaning she blames the friends who tease him. Uhh, no. The dude stuck a rifle under his own chin, so don't tell us it's someone else's crime. Also, what's up with the last scene? The dead dude is in the back seat of the car, alive. Huh???