Konkona Sen Sharma's debut is a quiet, assured character study, climax aside.
Verdict tier Recommended, most critics liked it, on a scale of Unfavorable, Mixed, Recommended, Exceptional.
Not streaming in India
Critic consensus
A Death in the Gunj is met with strong critical approval, with most reviewers praising Konkona Sen Sharma's directorial debut as assured, perceptive, and well-crafted. Critics frequently highlighted the film's tonal control, layered characters, and emotional resonance, with several calling it one of the best films of the year. The most common reservation, noted by a handful of reviewers, concerns the climax — described variously as anticlimactic, predictable, or insufficiently impactful relative to the buildup. A smaller number of critics also flagged occasional moments of pretension or narrative loopholes.
6 not-rated reviews aren't plotted
Positive = 6.5/10 and up · negative = below 5/10
AI-generated summary of 19 critic reviews · may contain errors
Report inaccuracyFrom the papers
Top critics first, then by score · not-rated last · updated
Top critic
Film review ·
A Death in the Gunj benefits from Konkona Sen Sharma's perceptive, assured direction. It's one of the best films of the year, and one that you'll find hard to shake off in a hurry. I'm going with four out of five and a strong recommendation not to miss it.
Top critic
Film review ·
A Death In The Gunj is a chiselled gem of a film - as resplendent as it is sobering.
Top critic
Film review ·
Konkona Sensharma's assured directorial debut, unpacks a complex sentiment with feeling, and gives us a layered film with memorable characters about the games people play, and how, sometimes, that can have terrible consequences.
Film review ·
A Death In The Gunj is one of the most sensitive films ever made. It made me think about my childhood and my family. It makes you look around and see if you have deserted a loved one, especially when someone tried to reach out to you in their vulnerable times. I felt a knot in my stomach, fought tears as I walked to the parking lot, couldn't sleep for next two nights and made sure I checked on my family and friends regularly. I don't think I can ever say it enough, but please watch the movie whenever you get an opportunity; on the internet, on a plane or most deservedly on the big screen.
Film review ·
Bollywood desperately needs films like A Death in the Gunj — one that doesn't take itself too seriously or isn't easy to frivolously label, but yet doesn't insult the intelligence of its viewer. We need to have a middle path between "artsy fartsy parallel cinema" and "mass masala entertainer", and Konkona Sen Sharma seems to have found a way.
Film review ·
Watch A Death In The Gunj for the gem of a first film that it is. It will let McCluskiegunj grow on you. It will make you laugh and silently crush your heart. It will make you thank the makers of the film for giving you this one.
Film review ·
It is deeply engaging and like comfort food its memory and taste will stay with the viewers long after the credits role.
Film review ·
Konkona Sen Sharma has proven she's as good a director as she's an actor. She's kept a tight hold on every department, hardly making a false move. Looks like her new journey is going to be exciting as hell…
Film review ·
"Death In The Gunj" has everything going for it as a film, and we hope that the niche movie breaks even as it releases alongside two Hollywood and four or five, mostly nondescript, Hindi movies on a crowded Friday. As a thriller, it ambles as placidly as a Jack Diickson Carr novel or an old-fashioned British story, and the climax is actually implosive rather than explosive.
Film review ·
While the script written by Disha Rindani and Konkana Sen Sharma, is skilfully drafted giving every character equal weightage, there are moments that make it seem pretentious and predictable. But the last scene which works as a metaphor in the film, leaves a lot of scope for interpretations and discussions and that is what takes this film beyond the auditorium.
Film review ·
A Death In The Gunj will make you drop your jaw several times, except for the one time you'd really want it to: the climax.
Film review ·
Sirsha Ray's camera work helps set a gloomy, mysterious, dark (not sinister) mood. The choice of locations and background scores does the rest. For the want of a better word, A Death In The Gunj has a 'distinct' feel. Konkona Sen Sharma's film is a successful experiment despite loopholes. And it is brave.
Film review ·
Points A Finger At The Cruel Wolf Residing In Each Of Us...
Film review ·
A Death in The Gunj ends on a note that fits in well with McCluskiegunj — a place set in the heart of Chhota Nagpur plateau's tribal belt, where Ernest Timothy McCluskie, an Anglo-Indian from Calcutta, carved out a homeland for 400-odd Anglo-Indians in the 1930s, complete with bakeries, hunting trips and picnics under the shade of a tree in Mrs Priscilla Perkins' yard.
Film review ·
There are many large and compelling reasons to watch A Death in the Gunj. Here's a small one: It's a beautiful goodbye to Om Puri, who died this January. There he is, saying "Nothing gets better at this age" in that instantly familiar rasp.
Film review ·
At the end, you are left with a lot of questions. You are also left with a satisfied heart after watching a gripping story, poetic in its narrative and artfully put together.
Film review ·
In Her Directorial Debut, 'Death In The Gunj', Konkana SenSharma Uses One Of Her Father's Memorable Stories To Spin A Tapestry Of Intrigue, Keeping It Brimming With Emotions Of Dejection, Hurt, Passion And Love
Film review ·
If you have ever been to a small town for your summer holidays, listened in wide-eyed wonder as adults swapped stories around the dinner table and spent languid afternoons lying on the grass, then Konkona Sen Sharma's "A Death in the Gunj" is just the film for you.
Film review ·
Konkona Sen Sharma's debut is a marvellously measured film, where each element of filmmaking is staggeringly synchronous with the other
From our readers
2 ratings · user score 9.5
Directorial debut of Konkona Sensharma is enough charming to keep you hooked from the start till the end, and that's the main reason why it is the best film in the cinema this year. Starring Vikrant Massey, Ranvir Shorey, Tilottama Shome, Tanuja Mukherjee, Jim Sarbh, Kalki Koechlin and many other actors, the moving film is about a boy called Shutu bullied amidst the gathering of family and friends in McLuskyGunj, Bihar of 1970s. The brilliant direction, writing and performances make for a perfect film.
I don't remember the last time I gave a film a full rating but I'm just positive about why A Death in the Gunj (A Death in the Echo) demands it from me. It's simply a a fabulous film that takes its sweet time to unfold through its atmospheric appeal, set in remote Bihar and with a stellar cast you wonder how the director got them together, narrating the depressing story of a young, taciturn man with demons in his mind and loneliness on his face. More than anything - and this drama is about many things - the film highlights the influence people have on other people. The final five minutes took my breath away and I'm confident it will make you think about depression, extroversion, sex, and longing. Konkona Sensharma's debut feature A Death in the Gunj is a masterpiece and easily one of my top 3 Hindi films of the 2010 decade. It's crisp, it's exotic, it's fantastic. TN.
Credits
Vikrant Massey
Ranvir Shorey
Kalki Koechlin
Tillotama Shome
Gulshan Devaiah
Tanuja
Om Puri
Jim Sarbh
Abhishek Chaubey
Aarif Sheikh
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