Memory Project

Konkona Sensharma’s gripping directorial debut is proof that Indian cinema has a bold new voice, says Vatsala Chhibber

- Vatsala Chhibber

In 1979, McCluskieganj was dying. For almost four decades, this ‘mini London’ in Bihar, now Jharkhand, made an idyllic Anglo-Indian settlement with a scattering of Bengalis and adivasis. By the ’70s, it landed in an economic slump. Each year, the town’s foggy streets grew quieter and its colonial bungalows, emptier. A Death In The Gunj, Konkona Sensharma’s debut directorial feature, is a deep dive into this time and mood—of aggressive sideburns, listless afternoons and a general sense of gloom. “Time has stood still there,” says Sensharma, for whom it remains the magical place she remembers from childhood vacations at her grandparents’ home.

A Death In The Gunj is based on a short story written by her father, Mukul Sharma, and is inspired by the events of a particular road trip her parents took to McCluskieganj in the ’70s. Over time, Sensharma began to add her own marginalia—memories of distant relatives and notes on human dynamics. After working through seven drafts at the NFDC (National Film Development Corporation of India) National Script Lab, she had a watertight script in place. The psychological drama unfolds over seven days, when a retired couple (played by Tanuja and Om Puri) are visited by their son’s family from Kolkata around Christmas. The house is overrun with drunken reunions and pre-Internet pranks. But beneath the bright skies and hearty laughs, you begin to sense with growing unease, the impending tragedy and silent pulling-apart of relationships. “A huge inspiration was Picnic At Hanging Rock (1975),” says Sensharma. “I wanted slower, more deliberate shots. I don’t know if this is my style, but it seemed like the right choice for this film.”