Sunit Sinha’s ‘Ranj’ depicts the struggles of a farmer’s son who unwillingly migrates to Delhi for livelihood

Set in a small village in Punjab, and Delhi, ‘Ranj’ is a story of Amanpreet, who is driven to despair in a hostile megacity. Written and Directed by Sunit Sinha, the feature film tells a murky tale of an individual’s struggle with the burden of expectations and his acute moral crisis. Produced by Pet Project Films, the film stars, Adesh Sidhu, Ekta Sodhi, Kuljeet Singh, V. K. Sharma, Madhu Sagar, Kriti V. Sharma, Sukumar Tudu, Rakesh Singh, Nutan Surya, Raju Kumar, Ashok Tiwari, and Rahul Nigam in pivotal roles. The English title of the film ‘Slow Burn’ reflects a pile-up of infuriating thoughts and insecurities of a young man who feels isolated in an oppressive city, and pushed to the limits by its brutally-indifferent inhabitants, leading him to perpetrate violence on himself and others.

The movie is critically acclaimed and has had several screenings, including at the Jio MAMI 21st Mumbai Film Festival, 10th Chicago South Asian Film Festival, 15th International Film Festival of Thrissur, 8th Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, 7th Woodpecker International Film Festival and 3rd Singapore South Asian International Film Festival. Additionally, the movie won the Best Director ‘Special Award’ at the 7th Woodpecker International Film Festival, and was nominated in several categories at other festivals.

Talking about the film, Sunit Sinha said, “Owing to various factors that result in a serious lack of alternative sources of income, the rural youth of Punjab are left with no choice but to migrate to a big city for livelihood. Today, the plight of the small and marginalized farmers is deplorable. Using this as a backdrop, Ranj dwells on the struggles of a youth, who is so connected to his village’s soil but loses his path in life after migrating to the megacity, Delhi. We wished to explore the theme of urban alienation. Not all individual stories in big cities end in success; there are quite a few that have to deal with the dark underbelly.”

Talking about his character, Adesh Sidhu said, “Amanpreet is just another village boy who is satisfied with his life in the village, but then as compelled by circumstances, he unwillingly migrates to Delhi for livelihood. Isolated in the chaotic city he has no social bonding nor interest in his work as he is not wired for city life. This man gets slowly consumed by his repressed and misplaced anger. It’s a unique character in itself. Having seen the villages of Punjab to living in the metros helped me connect with the character’s psyche and understand his predicaments. I fell in love with the script and immediately decided to somehow make this project happen with Sunit Sir.”

Based on experiences of small-town life and migration, Ranj revolves around the life of Amanpreet, a youth from a village of Punjab who migrates to Delhi to make a living on his parents’ demands. But, he is not wired for city life. He yearns for all that he has left behind- the calm of his village and his bride-to-be, Geetu. Employed at an automobile tool shop his co-workers jump at every opportunity to humiliate him. His boss constantly threatens to fire him. Eventually, his harassed work life, the pressures of the impending marriage, and pennilessness drive him to total despair. Sporadically erupting in anger, Amanpreet engages in a murderous assault and self-destructs the very life he set out to build.

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