An official remake of Korean film, Seven Days, the screenplay moves fast in a gripping enough thriller mode. Anuradha tries to build a case about how Sia was a victim to drugs something called ‘angel dust’.Īn fairly interesting plot kicks in. Sia (Priya Banerjee),the daughter of a very out of place Shabana Azmi, has been raped and killed. The stylized shots take away the impact of what could have been the crucial heart wrenching moments. Yes, the film could have been mainly a rape drama, had the rape in the story had any emotional effect, despite it being shown 3-4 times in different versions. Then the laryngitis tearing screams follow and some deafening sound design comes into action.Ī mysterious abductor demands that Anuradha, being the best lawyer around, defend a rapist and murderer, Miyaaz (Chandan Roy Sanyal) to get Sanaya back. Strangely when Sanaya disappears, lawyer mom panics within micro seconds. But before we can see how superheroic she is, the film rushes ahead and her daughter, Sanaya (Sara Arjun) gets abducted. However the film is in a hurry to show how Anuradha is a great, single supermom. If only this had been explored further, it would have made Jazbaa a fascinating watch. The good part is that our heroine has grey shades, just like the corrupt hero. Enough to make her win a particular case in favour of a criminal. Please note that ‘competent’ means that she just raises her voice over and above the prosecutor’s (Atul Kulkarni) all of a sudden, in the opening scene. She happens to be single and the city’s most competent criminal lawyer-Anuradha Verma. It’s about one woman fighting a false rape and murder case in order to rescue her kidnapped daughter. Instead of having a sobering effect, the statistics make this last moment effort at sincerity, nothing but laughable.īecause Jazbaa does not come across as a rape subject at all. It informs us about the rape statistics in India and how a woman is raped every 22 minutes. If the three dynamic actors still don’t seem serious enough, there is a message on screen as the film ends.
Khan must have noticed this and realized he cannot win in this area of hysterics. It is difficult to decide who can stretch them more wide and tearful. Rai and Azmi between themselves compete with their eyes. If the two together are not being dramatic enough, there is Shabana Azmi, playing a dead victim’s mother, at her melodramatic best. So he kicks and smashes some roadside props. Sometimes Khan recalls he needs to throw in some action too. “Rights? Hindustan mein rights nahin hote.”. Next, it is about how Irrfan Khan playing a corrupt cop-Yohaan- delivers entertaining dialogues (by veteran Kamlesh Pandey) like. But all its focus is on how well Rai screams, cries and runs. Jazbaa has great potential as a potboiler thriller dealing with the country’s most significant issue of rape. Rai who makes a comeback after five years with Jazbaa, scores full marks on all three counts. As a final step in hardcore performance, she has to run like there is no tomorrow. If that’s not pathetic enough, she has to wear a semi demented look with eyes brimming with glycerine. What follows is a moral and social dilemma between the hardened lawyer and the hapless mother.Īpparently he is convinced and in turn has convinced the actress that that a tormented mother has to scream her guts out to show her distress over the kidnapping of her little daughter. Story : Anuradha Varma (Aishwarya), a reputed criminal lawyer, agrees to defend a convicted felon to save her missing daughter. Genre : Action, Thriller Cast : Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Irrfan Khan and Shabana Azmi Director : Sanjay Gupta Duration : 2 hours 3 minutes