A Death in the Gunj

A Death In The Gunj

Poster for A Death in the Gunj.
Directed by Konkona Sen Sharma
Produced by Ashish Bhatnagar
Vijay Kumar Swami
Raagii Bhatnagar
Honey Trehan
Abhishek Chaubey
Neil Patel (co-producer)
Screenplay by Konkona Sen Sharma
Disha Rindani
Story by Mukul Sharma
Starring Vikrant Massey
Gulshan Devaiah
Kalki Koechlin
Tillotama Shome
Om Puri
Ranvir Shorey
Tanuja
Jim Sarbh
Music by Sagar Desai
Cinematography Sirsha Ray
Edited by Aarif Sheikh
Manas Mittal
Production
company
MacGuffin Pictures
Studioz IDrream
Moh Maya Films (presenter)
Release date
  • September 10, 2016 (2016-09-10) (Toronto)
  • June 2, 2017 (2017-06-02)
Running time
 104 minutes
Country India
Language English
Bengali
Box office ₹10 million[1]

A Death In The Gunj is a 2017 Indian drama written and directed by Konkona Sen Sharma.[2][3] It features an ensemble cast of Vikrant Massey, Tillotama Shome, Om Puri, Tanuja, Gulshan Devaiah, Kalki Koechlin, Jim Sarbh and Ranvir Shorey.[4] Produced by Ashish Bhatnagar, Vijay Kumar Swami, Raagii Bhatnagar, Abhishek Chaubey, and Honey Trehan under the banners of Studioz IDrream and MacGuffin Pictures, it is Sharma's directorial debut feature.[5][6][7] Principal photography began in February 2016 and was completed in March 2016 after a six-week shoot.[8] The film released on 2nd June, 2017

Plot

Two men are seen staring at an undisclosed corpse in the trunk of their blue Ambassador car, before driving off into the woods. A young married Anglo-Indian couple Nandu (Gulshan Devaiah) and Bonnie (Tillotama Shome) are travelling from Calcutta to McCluskieganj, during the winter of 1978 to meet the former's parents. They are accompanied by their 8-year old daughter Tani (Arya Sharma), Nandu's cousin Shutu (Vikrant Massey) and Bonnie's friend Mimi (Kalki Koechlin). They are welcomed by O.P. (Om Puri) and Anupama (Tanuja) on their arrival and are later joined by Nandu and Shutu's other cousins, Vikram (Ranvir Shorey) and Brian (Jim Sarbh).

Shutu is an intelligent college student who is overly sensitive and stays with Nandu and Bonnie in Calcutta. He is often subjected to bullying from his elder cousins, particularly the hot-headed Vikram. Shutu gets along well with Tani, who reciprocates his affection. On his first night in McCluskieganj, Shutu notices that Vikram is having an affair with Mimi even though he is already married to a small town girl, who he is ashamed of. Later that night, Shutu is at the receiving end of a prank that involves the group performing a séance. A terrified Shutu runs and hides in his bedroom while the others laugh hysterically.

The family goes on with their routine that involves heavy drinking, leisure outings and merrymaking, as Shutu finds himself growing distant from the core group. One day, Shutu and Vikram get into a tussle after a game of kabbadi turns violent and Shutu ends up getting hurt. Meanwhile, Anupama receives a letter from Shutu's mother informing her that despite being a dedicated student, he has failed his M. Sc. exam and has been kicked out of his hostel, which is why he is spending so much time at Nandu and Bonnie's place. Anupama makes Shutu call his mother, but he refuses to talk to her.

During New Year's Eve, O.P. and Anupama throw a dinner party where Vikram finally brings along his conservative wife Purnima (Protima Pradhan). A jealous Mimi tries to insult her and continues to flirt with Vikram to get his attention, only to be ticked off by Bonnie. Later that night, Shutu takes the drunk Mimi to her room, where she seduces him. The two have sex that night. The following day, Shutu takes Mimi for a ride on Vikram's Yezdi motorcycle and they stop at a Christian cemetery, where Mimi disregards Shutu's ideals.

Back at home, a distraught Tani, feeling ignored by the family, Shutu in particular, goes missing. The group search for her frantically around the house, but to no avail. While looking for Tani in the woods, Shutu falls into a trapping pit, dug by the villagers. Nandu, who accompanied Shutu into the woods, is overwhelmed by the occasion and returns home without waiting for Shutu and discovers that Vikram had already found Tani. Shutu encounters a wolf in the forest, but is found and saved by the household help Maniya. He is heartbroken on realizing that none of the people back home had noticed that he was missing and are simply enjoying their meal. Shutu tries to apologize to Tani, but she refuses to talk to him.

The next morning, Shutu finally calls up his mother who tells him she can get him a job at his father's college. He then packs his things and is prepared to return to his hometown. Before leaving, he tries to ask Mimi out again, but she bluntly turns down his offer and asks him to concentrate on his studies. Shutu reaches his breaking point soon thereafter, as he witnesses the family going on with their routine. Feeling completely let down by every single one of them, he takes his uncle's gun and angrily points it at Vikram, who tries to pacify him, pointing it later at himself. A gunshot is heard as the camera turns towards a nearby tree covered in fresh blood splatter. The screen then shifts to the opening scene, where Nandu and Brian are looking at a corpse in the trunk of their car. They drive off to the morgue with Shutu's silhouette seen sitting on the rear seat of the car.

Cast

Koechlin and Devaiah have important roles in the film.

Release

A Death in the Gunj was launched by Gulzar and Vishal Bhardwaj at a press conference on 13 January 2016.[9] The film's World premiere took place at the 21st annual 2016 Toronto International Film Festival on 10 September 2016. Its Asian premiere was held at the 21st Busan International Film Festival on 7 October 2016. It was chosen as the Opening Film for the 18th Mumbai Film Festival where it was screened on 21 October 2016 and where director Konkona Sensharma received the 'MasterCard Best India Female Filmmaker 2016 Award'. A Death in the Gunj also had its US premiere as the Opening Film of its 13th South Asian International Film Festival on the night of 30 November 2016.[10] The film is set to release in Indian theatres on June 2, 2017.[11][12][13] [14]

Box office

A Death in the Gunj released in India on a meagre 100 screens and had an average opening. It collect a total of ₹5.2 million in its opening week. With a limited theatrical release, the film earned around ₹10 million during its entire run at the box-office.[1]

Reception

A Death in the Gunj opened to positive response at various film festivals.[15]

References

  1. 1 2 "A Death In The Gunj". Box Office India. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
  2. ↑ Anjuri Nayar Singh (12 Jan 2016). "Behind the camera: Tales of actors turning directors".
  3. ↑ Kamal Kaur (24 December 2015). "Kenya: Konoka Dons Her Director Hat for New Movie".
  4. ↑ IANS (3 January 2016). "Tillotama Shome, Gulshan Devaiah to play couple in Konkona Sen Sharma’s directorial ‘A Death In The Gunj’".
  5. ↑ "Konkona Sen Sharma: Passionate About Making a Film". 30 June 2015.
  6. ↑ Bolly-Freak (5 January 2016). "First Look: 'A Death in The Gunj' by Konkana Sen Sharma". PinkVilla.
  7. ↑ "Bollywood Celebs at Launch film ‘A Death In The Gunj’". Archived from the original on 28 January 2016.
  8. ↑ "It's a wrap for Konkona Sensharma's directorial debut". Deccan Chronicle. 7 March 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  9. ↑ "Gulzar and Vishal Bhardwaj launch Konkana's directorial debut 'A Death in the Gunj'". 6 January 2016.
  10. ↑ "Konkona’s A Death in the Gunj premieres at 18th Mumbai Film Fest". Hindustan Times. 2016-10-22. Retrieved 2016-10-23.
  11. ↑ "Konkona Sen’s A Death In The Gunj to release on June 2". http://www.hindustantimes.com/. 2017-05-13. Retrieved 2017-05-13. External link in |work= (help)
  12. ↑ "A Death In The Gunj Movie Review: A Beautiful Tragedy". Movie Talkies. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  13. ↑ "A Death In The Gunj movie review: Experimental, surreal and successful". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  14. ↑ "Review: Expect the Unexpected from ‘A Death In The Gunj’". The Quint. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  15. ↑ Ramasubramanian, Uma (16 February 2017). "Exclusive: When Konkona found no backers for her debut A Death in the Gunj". Deccan Chronicles. Retrieved 5 June 2017.


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