Hulla/Ek Ghar

Ek Ghar

This week, Jaideep Verma's Hulla, tells an urban story, about a man whose life goes haywire, because he is unable to sleep due to the building watchman's piercing whistle, and the society secretary refuses to help. The small irritant, blows up into tragedy for all concerned. In 1991, award-winning director Girish Kasaravalli made Ek Ghar (Hindi version of his own Kannada film Mane), based on a story by TG Raghava, in which the protagonists go through a similar trauma.

Rajshekhar (Naseeruddin Shah) and Geeta (Deepti Naval) are a newly married couple, eager to set up home together. They move into newly rented room in a crowded lane of the city, which they find with some difficulty, considering their limited means. The shed next door lies vacant during the day, at night a group of people come and work there, and the noise keeps the couple awake. It affects Rajshekhar's work and eventually the life of the couple.

When all efforts to get the shed vacated fail, the couple ask Geetha's aunt (Rohini Hattangady) for help. She knows a senior police officer, and the men from the workshop next door are evicted, but Geeta had to 'deal with' the cop. However, the cop lends the shed to his nephew who starts a video game parlor. The couple get out of one problem and land into another. Rajshekhar decides take Geeta away from the environment. He seeks the help of the workmen who had earlier occupied the shed, but their slum is demolished to make way for a multinational company, by the bulldozers manufactured by the factory in which Rajshekhar works.

Hulla is a comedy, while Ek Ghar was a dark film about the problems of urban living and how noise can wreck peace of mind in an already stressed environment. A director's note on the film stated, "Environmental sound is an integral character in the film. Imaginative use is made of every conceivable sound preventing a newly married couple to settle down in life. Sound plays the metaphorical villain in the film! The mixing and blending of various sounds in the soundtrack of the film offers an insight into the hybridization and mechanization of life in a small town in India , taking the film beyond the four walls of the house."

The film, which has superb performances by Naseeruddin Shah and Deepti Naval, won awards and went to many festivals. Mane is considered a classic of Kannada cinema, but unfortunately Ek Ghar did not get a wide viewership.