A Death In The Gunj: It’s all relative
traditions from different communities. The majority of them later migrated to nearby cities, especially Kolkata, and then abroad.
The town isn’t a patch on its earlier self, but this story begins in 1979, when all wasn’t lost.
Some fine English-speaking members of a family arrive from Calcutta (now Kolkata) to spend quality time with Mr and Mrs Bakshi (Om Puri and Tanuja). Nandu (Gulshan Devaih) and Vikram (Ranvir Shorey) are joined by Bonnie (Tillotama Shome), Mimi (Kalki Koechlin), Brian (Jim Sarbh) and Tani (Arya Sharma). Some of them occasionally switch to Bengali.
It makes for an odd group, with easily identifiable traits. If Vikram’s infidelity is obvious, Nandu’s overarching patriarchy isn’t hard to detect either.
Bonnie appears to be the most grounded and finds it hard to deal with Mimi who doesn’t believe in hiding heartbreak. Mimi is like a defiant teen stuck in a time warp. Aloof and sarcastic, her genuineness binds the motley band together.
The story is centred around 23-year-old student Shutu (Vikrant Massey), Nandu’s cousin, who’s struggling on many fronts. From sexuality to depressive behaviour, he has many battles to conquer and is a soft target for family bullies.
But A Death In the Gunj isn’t about just one theme or a person. Different tracks lead to different meanings and they might not have a common resolution.
The colonial hangover is reflected through crumbling buildings and a gun nailed to the wall. The Bakshi family and their friends love their drink. Think of them as a refined version of rural landlords.
The women of the family behave and talk like today’s women — confident, vocal and ready to resist male domination. Men want to display their masculinity — be it a kabaddi match or a hunting game.
The one emotion that comes out of this weird gathering is the sense of loneliness, the feeling of not being desired, the pain of not being loved back. It’s a recurring theme in the 104-minute film.
Director Konkona Sen Sharma aims to create a look of ‘just another day in a sleepy town’, but treats the film like a thriller. Characters cross and hurt each other. They swiftly resort to physical and verbal violence. Shutu emerges as the one to sympathise with it all. His silence makes the atmosphere hauntingly eerie.
The film stands on the skills of its stellar cast. Vikrant Massey stands out among the talented actors. His is the face you’ll recall from this film many years later.
Sirsha Ray’s camera work helps set a gloomy, mysterious, dark, but no sinister, mood. The locations and background scores do the rest. Konkona Sen Sharma’s film is a successful experiment despite loopholes. And it is brave.
“We will have to wait for him to regain consciousness to check his cognitive function,” Gupta said.
The neurosurgeon repeated that Suraj’s luck “favoured him big time” as he could have “died on the spot or become paralyzed”.
“The impact was such that the bullet, which should have been cylindrical, turned almost flat,” Gupta said.
It was not known who fired the shot. The incident was reported to cops at Nihal Vihar police station and a case was filed.
Was it a stray bullet fired by someone testing a weapon in a crowded neighbourhood at night? Did someone shoot intentionally at Suraj? Investigation could possibly trace the bullet to the gun.
The army released what it said was a video of the military action that showed heavy artillery blasting temporary bunkers and shelters on a tree-covered mountain. The video was shot in Jammu’s Nowshera sector on May 9. The army found itself in the middle of a firestorm after a video clip showed a man tied to the fender of an army jeep and paraded through villages. The incident deepened the army-civilian divide and sparked violent protests in the militancy-hit valley. The major, who uses the Kashmiri weaver as a human shield against stone-throwing mobs, was awarded the army chief’s commendation card in May.
Also, he said in an exclusive interview to PTI that Russia does not have any “tight” military relationship with Pakistan, and asserted that its close friendship with India cannot be diluted.
But he sidestepped a question on Kashmir, saying “no matter where the threat comes from, it is unacceptable and we will always support India in its fight against terrorism”.
Modi, who is on a four-nation tour, will return from France on June 3. He will travel to Astana in Kazakhstan for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit on June 8 and 9.
His official functions in Washington will be confined to the first half of June 26.
The possibility of the Indian private sector’s commitment to create jobs and opportunities in the US is likely to be his agenda. That could be an attempt to bridge gaps as latest US policies are inimical to immigrant workers following Trump’s poll promise to create and protect American jobs.
On his way to the US, he will stop in the Netherlands. He will visit Portugal on his return journey.
International relations see ups and downs, but history is witness IndoRussia relations have not seen any ups and downs