I’ve been struggling to write this review ever since I saw “B.A. Pass”, directed by Ajay Bahl, nearly three weeks ago at the New Jersey Independent South Asian Cine Fest (NJISACF). In fact I had initially written the review rather quickly because I loved the movie. But then I read the short story it was based on called “The Railway Aunty” by Mohan Sikka (You can read the full story at Brooklyn Rail) After that, I knew my approach had to change, even if my assessment of the film didn’t. It’s still a fantastic movie and reading the short story only deepened my appreciation for the whole experience.

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“B.A. Pass” stars Shilpa Shukla and Shadab Kamal

The story is about a young college student in Delhi named Mukesh (played by Shadab Kamal) who is saddled with the responsibility of graduating and trying to be responsible for this two younger sisters, who’ve been sent away to a girls home after his parents died. As a result he now lives at his aunt’s house,where is treated more like a servant than a nephew. He spends most of his time playing chess at a nearby cemetery with his only friend, an old gravedigger named Johnny (Dibyendu Bhattacharya). Everything changes for him when he meets Sarika (Shilpa Shukla), an attractive older woman and a friend of his aunt.

From there the story slowly descends into a scary world of sex, prostitution, corruption and deception. Before the movie was shown at NJISACF, all I had heard about “B.A. Pass” was that it had a lot of sex in it. Naturally, one tends to roll their eyes after hearing such eloquent descriptions of the film. But I knew it had won the Best Picture award at Osian’s-Cinefan Film Fest in August so I was intrigued.

There is a fine line with Indian films that deal with such issues and attempt to show them graphically. The filmmaker has decisions to make. In this case, Bahl had a short story to adapt, which obviously contained a lot of sexuality. Thankfully, just like the short story, those moments are actually character driven. These are not gratuitous sex scenes for the sake of shock and awe. Bahl expertly balances the scenes where the focus is not so much on the sex, but actually on Mukesh and how his life is suddenly changing.

Shadab Kamal does a fantastic job of portraying a boy lost in the scramble for his own gratification and the responsibility he bears for his family. He is the heart and soul of the film that explores how even the simplest and most innocent of people can be corrupted to the point of no return. After reading the short story, Kamal’s performance is that much more admirable because of what he was able to express in silent and subtle ways. The short story goes deep into Mukesh’s mind as we get more definitive explanations of how he’s feeling and what he was going through. Kamal was able to distill all of those thoughts from the story into subtle facial reactions and looks in the film. I cannot overstate this. Kamal did a phenomenal job.

Shukla was also perfect in this film as the sultry Sarika. She commanded the room and her presence was felt even when she wasn’t speaking. She played Sarika as dominant, defiant and mysterious. You can never take your eyes off her.

Then there was the character of Johnny, played to perfection by Dibyendu Bhattacharya (who also won the Best Supporting Actor Award at NJISACF). While I loved the portrayal by Bhattacharya, I had a few misgivings about the way his character arc was handled in what turns out to be a huge twist in the story. I don’t want to give anything away but I felt the impact of Johnny’s actions came too far out of left field, at least in the way it was developed. What happens with his character is important and the underlying reasons are understood, I just felt it could have been highlighted and explored a little more, especially considering the film only has a running time of 95 minutes.

However, on the whole the “B.A. Pass” was superb and I look forward to more features from Bahl as he clearly has a knack for tension, pacing and storytelling. If anyone ever gets a chance to see this movie, jump on it. You won’t regret it.