When I first heard that Aishwarya Rai was back on the silver screen after a five year hiatus, I immediately checked out the trailer for the movie Jasbaa. There seemed to be an overuse of the green filter but also featured some great action scenes. What tweaked my interest even more was to find two other Bollywood legends, Irrfan Khan and Shabana Azmi were also starring. If you did what I did next and watched the music video for Bandeyya, where Aish is like Venus descended, you will be fooled as none of those scenes nor locations were featured in the movie.
Filmed close to perfection in terms of pacing, timing and dialogue, Sanjay Gupta has taken the story from the Korean film, Seven days (2007) and delivers this simple plot line of a mother's desperate need to save her daughter in four days! Single mother, Anuradha Verma's daughter is kidnapped. The ransom is not for cash, but for the services of Anuradha's expertise legal maneuvers as a prominent defense (criminal) lawyer, who has never lost a case, to acquit a death row prisoner on appeal, Miyaaz Shaikh (Chandan Roy Sanyal). Miyaaz, convicted for the rape and murder of Sia, a young art student, has all the evidence pointing to him. Surprisingly, Anuradha agrees. Suspended police officer and long time friend of Anuradha, Inspector Yohaan joins her quest to re-investigate Miyaaz's case to save Anuradha's daughter.We meet Garima, a headstrong lady, Sia's mother, who wants nothing more than to see Miyaaz punished for his crime. There are a slew of other characters that make the legal and investigatory journey, a thrilling one, notably Sam (Siddhanth Kapoor), a drug crazed classmate and boyfriend of Sia, who later transpires to be part of he crime. You will spend the interval, wondering, what twist lie ahead and most of the second half of the movie will be spent second guessing what the purpose of the acquittal of Miyazz serves. I guarantee you will be surprised at the end. Don't stop watching when the credit's start as there is a short epilogue, wrapping up Anuradha and Yohaan's relationship. And the film's final message of the fight against rape in India is a great message that needs to be applauded.
Sanjay Gupta's green filter signature style is a little disturbing at first but I found that it worked well with this movie, setting the tone and mood of the scenes. There were other filming aspects which worked well, especially the interesting aerial shots, the dark clouds shrouding Mumbai's skyline in background shots, the amazing lighting design, especially in a night time fight scene between Yohann and Vijay, another convict. Some may find the dialogs a little preposterous, but I found that they were relevant as in real life, we do say and react sillily. Irrfan and Shabana's parts were better written and executed; Irrfan for his delivery of over the top dialogs with flair and Shabana, was on fire in the final scene as well as the one where she finds out that Anuradha, who she believed was on her side, is now defending her daughter's killer. Aishwraya's performance hasn't changed much from before. She is reasonable good in the part but there are parts of the film is performed with a dead stare in her eyes, and the roar of a lion. Perhaps, that is how Sanjay Gupta wanted her role to be played. She screams a helluva lot in this movie, so be prepared!
What boggles the mind is the insertion of two songs in a thriller movie that can do without. OK, the hip hop, Badshah's Aaj Raat Ka Scene happens in a nightclub so that was acceptable. The courtroom scenes and reenactment of the murder scene were great. There were some witty lines in the courtroom scene, where the two advocates battling out the case, whilst the judge was virtually asleep.
My recommendation is that Jasbaa falls short of being in the league of some great movies this year, but still a watchable and enjoyable one. This 119 minute film will keep you entertained enough.
Filmed close to perfection in terms of pacing, timing and dialogue, Sanjay Gupta has taken the story from the Korean film, Seven days (2007) and delivers this simple plot line of a mother's desperate need to save her daughter in four days! Single mother, Anuradha Verma's daughter is kidnapped. The ransom is not for cash, but for the services of Anuradha's expertise legal maneuvers as a prominent defense (criminal) lawyer, who has never lost a case, to acquit a death row prisoner on appeal, Miyaaz Shaikh (Chandan Roy Sanyal). Miyaaz, convicted for the rape and murder of Sia, a young art student, has all the evidence pointing to him. Surprisingly, Anuradha agrees. Suspended police officer and long time friend of Anuradha, Inspector Yohaan joins her quest to re-investigate Miyaaz's case to save Anuradha's daughter.We meet Garima, a headstrong lady, Sia's mother, who wants nothing more than to see Miyaaz punished for his crime. There are a slew of other characters that make the legal and investigatory journey, a thrilling one, notably Sam (Siddhanth Kapoor), a drug crazed classmate and boyfriend of Sia, who later transpires to be part of he crime. You will spend the interval, wondering, what twist lie ahead and most of the second half of the movie will be spent second guessing what the purpose of the acquittal of Miyazz serves. I guarantee you will be surprised at the end. Don't stop watching when the credit's start as there is a short epilogue, wrapping up Anuradha and Yohaan's relationship. And the film's final message of the fight against rape in India is a great message that needs to be applauded.
Sanjay Gupta's green filter signature style is a little disturbing at first but I found that it worked well with this movie, setting the tone and mood of the scenes. There were other filming aspects which worked well, especially the interesting aerial shots, the dark clouds shrouding Mumbai's skyline in background shots, the amazing lighting design, especially in a night time fight scene between Yohann and Vijay, another convict. Some may find the dialogs a little preposterous, but I found that they were relevant as in real life, we do say and react sillily. Irrfan and Shabana's parts were better written and executed; Irrfan for his delivery of over the top dialogs with flair and Shabana, was on fire in the final scene as well as the one where she finds out that Anuradha, who she believed was on her side, is now defending her daughter's killer. Aishwraya's performance hasn't changed much from before. She is reasonable good in the part but there are parts of the film is performed with a dead stare in her eyes, and the roar of a lion. Perhaps, that is how Sanjay Gupta wanted her role to be played. She screams a helluva lot in this movie, so be prepared!
What boggles the mind is the insertion of two songs in a thriller movie that can do without. OK, the hip hop, Badshah's Aaj Raat Ka Scene happens in a nightclub so that was acceptable. The courtroom scenes and reenactment of the murder scene were great. There were some witty lines in the courtroom scene, where the two advocates battling out the case, whilst the judge was virtually asleep.
My recommendation is that Jasbaa falls short of being in the league of some great movies this year, but still a watchable and enjoyable one. This 119 minute film will keep you entertained enough.
