 "Ulajh movie review: Gulshan Devaiah & Roshan Mathew steal the show in Janhvi Kapoor starrer spy thriller")
Cast: Janhvi Kapoor, Gulshan Devaiah, Roshan Mathew, Rajesh Tailang, Meiyang Chang, Rajendra Gupta, Jitendra Joshi and Adil Hussain
Director: Sudhanshu Saria
In Bollywood, we have seen several spy-thrillers like the Tiger franchise, Raazi, Phantom, Madras Cafe, Pathaan, War and many others. While we have seen the plots revolving around R&AW and ISI in these films, Ulajh stands out with its unique approach and treatment conveying the message of how bureaucrats, diplomats and IFS officers are unsung heroes, who control and prevent critical situations, which can lead to war between the countries.
Talking about the plot of Ulajh, it starts with IFS officer Suhana Bhatia (Janhvi Kapoor) jogging in Kathmandu, Nepal and while running, the conversation between her and her ex-boyfriend runs through her head, where he says that he cheated on her because she never gave him attention and just chased her dream of becoming a diplomat to impress his father.
Cut to, in the next scene, Suhana is seen controlling the situation when a minister of Nepal tries to dominate his seniors. Impressed by her skills, Suhana, who is third third-generation IFS officer from the Bhatia family gets the position of Deputy High Commissioner in London and becomes the youngest Indian to achieve that.
In London, her assigned driver Salim (Rajesh Tailang) develops a great bond and tells Suhana that she is like his sister. In one of the high-profile meeting events, Janhvi meets Michelin star chef Nakul Sharma (Gulshan Devaiah) and they both instantly hit it off followed by an affair.
However, Nakul soon shows a video to Suhana of them making out and reveals that he works for ISI and blackmails her to share documents of some big deals and reveal the identity of the undercover agents.
Suhana, who is now down with the burden of self-doubt and guilt, gets stuck between very critical situations, which can impact India’s image and lead to war with Pakistan. How will Suhana tackle these layered problems and prevent a war? Well, for that you have to watch Ulajh on the silver screen.
Director Sudhanshu Saria has managed to keep the narrative gripping and captivating but sometimes it does get confusing due to the entangling of tracks. Shreya Dev Dube and Shashwat Sachdev, who handled the camera and music department have captured the intense mood with their impeccable skills.
Talking about the plot, Janhvi Kapoor, who lays the film on her responsible shoulder, puts her best foot forward in the portrayal. However, Gulshan Devaiah and Roshan Mathew steal the show with their intense and superlative act.
Rajesh Tailang, Meiyang Chang, Rajendra Gupta and Jitendra Joshi play their role to the T. On the whole, Ulajh is one of those spy-thrillers, which deserves a watch for its story-telling and star performances.
Rating: 3 (out of 5 stars)
Ulajh is playing in cinemas
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