Uljhan – The Knot by Ashish Pant is a psychological Hindi drama that explores class differences, feelings of guilt, and ethical challenges. It is the story of a married couple, Geeta (Saloni Batra) and Shirish (Vikas Kumar), whose lives take a drastic turn after a car accident in which they run over a rickshaw puller. Their reactions to the unwanted situation reveal the inner turmoil regarding the prejudices associated with privilege and moral obligation. The film extends into more personalized details of truth and rectitude once both of them start denying the reality of their situation. Tension rises as secrets are brought out, and their ignorance begins to deteriorate the balance of their marital bliss. Pant deliberately avoids depicting explicit acts of violence, and instead, the focus is placed on exploring the emotional and psychological impact of the couple’s actions on themselves. It’s an emotionally packed musing on what transpires when there are consequences to the sense of compromising one’s core beliefs and values as humans. The film uses underplayed and powerful performances to tell the tale of how an external event can push individuals into confronting their real selves and the invisible barriers separating various social classes in urban India. The restraint approach keeps emotions simmering under the surface rather than bringing them out in overt drama.
Shirish owns an old handloom factory, which he has inherited from his father-in-law. He plans to buy a plot of land to build a large house away from the noise and bustle of Lucknow city. For this, he runs from pillar to post at the bank to get the loan sanctioned. Shirish surprises his homemaker wife Geeta on her birthday with a surprise party thrown. He gets inebriated, and so she decides to drive the car and accidentally hits a rickshaw puller, Kali (Shahid). Shirish wants to flee from the site, but Geeta insists on admitting Kali to a government hospital. After a week, Kali’s brother Manoj (Nehpal Gautam) comes to Geeta’s house to return her driving license, which had fallen at the accident site. Manoj tells her that Kali’s leg has been amputated and asks for money for further treatment. She helps him after some reluctance. When Shirish comes to know of it, he disapproves of Geeta’s action. Soon Manoj is appointed as a driver by Shirish. But he is unaware that Manoj is Kali’s brother. Manoj proves to be efficient and liked by the couple. As the days pass, the tension between the couple deepens as their differing worldviews collide, and brings to light a painfully incisive representation of human nature and its dark capabilities.
The film begins with a point-of-view shot of Shirsh looking through the windshield of his car as he navigates through a busy street and talking over the phone. It immediately allows us to absorb the bitter banalities of the daily grind and the road that the protagonist has to traverse to achieve his goal in life. It metaphorically indicates the zone that this film is venturing into. Shirsh is a hardworking individual who does not hesitate to bribe government officials or forge the signature of his wife on a document. On the contrary, his wife, Geeta, is an affectionate woman who has a soft corner for the people from the lower rungs of society and does not have any blemish in her persona. So, the key event in the film, the accident, serves as a symbol of the social and emotional differences that hold them together and examines the multi-layered face of human behavior. For instance, at one point, when Shirish goes to the bank, one of the officials, Mr. Jain (Sadanand Patil), speaks chaste, refined Hindi—a mark of the upper class. Contrasting this, Manoj speaks in a colloquial dialect, placing him within the ambit of a slum immediately. These converse speech patterns underline the fundamental class divisions between the characters, underscoring how even language itself becomes one more identifying mark of social status and standing. In another instance, when Manoj plays ‘Chetawani Bhajan’ in the car, Geeta disapproves, but Shirish has no objection because he also has a sense of belonging to the song and does not belong to an upper class like his wife. At the same time, both Geeta and her housekeeper, Shanti (Anushree Khushwaha), are expecting children. For Geeta, it’s her first time, and she is being cared for by her husband with routine visits to the gynecologist. In contrast, it’s Shanti’s fourth pregnancy, and her husband insists on having a boy this time. Shanti’s mother-in-law has even advised her to avoid non-vegetarian food to ensure the birth of a son. Such macro details highlight the invisible barriers between individuals from different walks of life and underscore the film’s salient themes of inequality and social conflict.
However, the storytelling could have been tighter, a little more subtle, and the layering of the characters could have been a little more layered. The filmmaker keeps the focus on internal struggle and the mood downbeat. Often it seems as if little is happening without an intense buildup of feeling. It’s an extremely candid and obvious script that deals so much with the feelings of the protagonists but misses the sense of heightening our curiosity organically. Because of this, the journeys of the principal characters seem to be less relatable and impactful. The episode of Kali being admitted to the hospital is devoid of the much-needed ponderous moments, which resist creating a weighty atmosphere and an intense mood. The final moments in the film also lacked the tense atmosphere to make it appear effective and elicit suspense.
The cinematography by Pawel Kacprzak makes inventive use of space, especially in the interiors of the house and office, suggesting the emotional states of the individuals battling with their crisis. The long takes and semi-circular movement don’t draw too much attention to the camera, leaving the story and characters the room they deserve. Vibhab Nigam edits the film with a subtle rhythm that never reveals the passage of time and prevents the moments from lingering too long, thereby preserving the emotional weight of the scenes and suggesting the territory that the film is exploring. The sound design by Luigi Porto works in harmony with the images to facilitate a more contemplative and immersive cinematic viewing.
Vikas Kumar convincingly and credibly portrays the character of Shirish, an ambitious middle-class man caught in the cross-currents of emotional maneuvering. Saloni Batra as Geeta delivers a controlled performance and gives an extra dimension to an empathetic character, whose decisions are governed more by emotions than reasoning. Nehpal Gautam as Gautam, brings a mysterious aura to his character as an individual from the lower rung of society whose stand against injustice is overpowered by a biased society. Anushree Khushwaha as Shanti and Sadanand Patil as Mr. Jain played their characters with sensitivity and ease.
As a debutant, Ashish Pant competently handles the delicate intricacies of the human psyche and makes a scathing comment on the oppressive lives of the working class. It is a social drama that has the sheer grit and ability to look into the eye of a festering social problem. Despite all its finesse, the film does not create an appealing multilayered character study that keeps us absorbed throughout. It is not just a generic film; rather, it has a good premise that doesn’t reach its full potential.
Uljhan – The Knot premiered recently on https://www.opentheatre.in, an innovative digital theatre designed specifically for independent filmmakers.
