In his directorial debut, Ajay Naidu plays an Indian-American with a little more edge than his previous roles. He’s not an office drone misguided by scheming coworkers. He’s not a limo driver moonlighting as a poet. He is Ashes (short for Ashish), an Indian New Yorker charged with caring for his mentally ill older brother Kartik (Faran Tahir) who is fresh out of a care facility. We follow Ashes as he rejects the conventional path of working at an Indian restaurant and instead pursues his chosen hustle, the weed game.

Ajay Naidu as Ashes. Photo credit MIAAC website

Though his drug dealing career is boosting his income, with money comes trouble, and soon Ashes is embroiled in a chess game between high-powered drug dealers. Ashes, who vows only to deal with marijuana and no harder substance, finds himself an accessory to the heroin trafficking. As the stakes rise, so does the number of people involved, complicating the story. One drug dealer’s (Pinky played by Firdous Bamji) love interest, Jasmine (Heather Burns), turns out to be two-timing him with another (Rishi played by Samrat Chakrabarti), and as would be expected from the rough and tumble business of drugs, shifts of power ensue…violently.

While Ashes’ professional life is fluctuating, things at home begin to unravel as well. Kartik’s moods swing wildly as he tries to readjust to the real world. His girlfriend and fellow mental patient Bettina (Piper Perabo) is becoming distant, causing Kartik great anguish. While Kartik vents some of his frustration by lashing out at his little brother Ashes, the two share a genuine brotherly affection. Tahir delivers Kartik’s lines with the tone and mannerism of a man barely hanging onto reality, and we constantly feel his difficulty. We are reminded time and time again that beneath this quivering, volatile exterior is a man who simply wants happiness. Tahir drives home the love between these two brothers, making it the most tangible emotion in the film.

Faran Tahir as Kartik. Photo Credit MIAAC website

While Ashes and Kartik’s relationship tugs at the heartstrings, the drug game described in Ashes at times becomes cumbersome under the weight of its characters. Between Pinky, Floyd, Rishi, and Maurice, there is only brief explanation of who is working for who and who wants what. The chain of events leading to the climatic standoff could have used more development. Moreover, it becomes hard to believe that the business of moving high grade marijuana in New York is under the control of armed South Asian gangsters. The movement of the film through these portions relied on the acting, with strong performances from Bamji and Naidu himself. For most, this is the first time seeing Naidu in a leading role and his struggle quickly becomes ours as we watch the world torment and reward him.

Aside from his forceful acting, Naidu’s success with Ashes lies in his direction. He shows us a real New York through down-trodden blocks and cramped apartments, restaurants and loft spaces. The lighting casts a permanent gloom over the action, gray days passing into black nights, the sky always threatening rain. The opening and closing scenes in which Ashes is walking to Coney Island beach depicts a typically vibrant area as desolate, framing the heartbreak and hope that surround the story.

New York as depicted in Ashes. Photo credit MIAAC website

Karsh Kale’s score to Ashes at times delivers thematic tone, and at others provides a hot beat to an interesting looking scene, for example when Ashes is dancing, his form appearing bright and overexposed over a quick electronic rhythm with all the traditionalist elements Kale’s production is known for. His keen music sense strengthened the drama in Ashes without overpowering it.

Ashes displays courage on Naidu’s part. He bares to his audience a side of him that seems it has been screaming to get out for years. With his first movie complete, Naidu is on his way to becoming a force in the world of South-Asian American film.

Ashes

Directed by Ajay Naidu

Starring Ajay Naidu, Heather Burns, Faran Tahir, Piper Perabo

English, USA, 2010, 90 minutes

Soundtrack by Karsh Kale