A Death in the Gunj

In the opening scene, Nandu and Brian stand over a body concealed in the car trunk, unsure of the next step. They decide to drive on, taking Shutu with them as the morgue recedes into the distance. The sequence cuts to a flashback that moves the narrative to a week earlier.

A week earlier, a small extended family gathers at a house in McCluskieganj after a long journey from Calcutta. Nandu and Bonnie, their daughter Tani, Mimi, and Shutu inhabit the shared space, each carrying hopes and tensions. The house becomes a site where affection, expectation, and quiet conflict mingle.

Shutu's gentleness makes him endearing yet vulnerable within the family dynamic. The jokes and sarcastic remarks around him reveal the friction between belonging and being seen. The week gradually narrows his sense of place.

A rough Kabaddi game with Vikram leaves Shutu bruised, highlighting his fragility and the uneven balance of power in the household. The incident is a small but sharp reminder that strength is prized and softness is risk. The moment intensifies the undercurrents shaping Shutu's place in the family.

Shutu and Mimi share a discreet, charged moment that hints at a budding connection. Mimi's responses feel cautious and pragmatic, suggesting her interest lies more with Vikram than with Shutu. The exchange deepens Shutu's longing to be seen and valued.

Shutu and Mimi steal a ride on a motorcycle, slipping away from the house for a breath of freedom. When they return, they discover Tani has disappeared, and the family's attention immediately shifts to the child's safety. Shutu feels increasingly invisible as the search consumes the house.

The next day the search continues for Tani, but Shutu's absence goes unnoticed amid the relief of finding Tani unharmed. The house relaxes into a fragile calm, while Shutu's sense of being unseen grows deeper. The family remains largely unaware of the quiet fracture taking hold.

Shutu buys a train ticket to return to Calcutta and tells Mimi he will come back soon. Mimi's brief, curt dismissal—urging him to focus on his studies—lands as a cold, definitive boundary. The moment marks Shutu's growing isolation from the family he longs to belong to.

In the weeks that follow, O.P. Bakshee mentors Shutu, teaching him to shoot a rifle with an inherited, weathered weapon. The act begins as a rite of passage but quickly reveals itself as a desperate attempt to assert control and belonging. The rifle becomes a powerful symbol of the family's fragile line between nurture and danger.

Shutu wrests the rifle from O.P. Bakshee and turns it toward himself and those around him. The room fills with pleas and frantic attempts to calm him, but the gun remains fixed on his future. He pulls the trigger, and the room collapses into shock as the tragedy unfolds.

The film returns to the opening trunk scene as Nandu and Brian drive away with Shutu's body. The backseat feels haunted by Shutu's ghost, a spectral reminder of the cost of not truly seeing those closest to us. The ending invites reflection on memory, loss, and the quiet crises of family life.