Jazbaa Hindi Movie
There are certain things that only a Sanjay Gupta can do. Yes, I have liked him. Heck, even Tarantino liked his Kaante. That he has capabilities that not many directors from Bollywood have cannot be denied. Jazbaa sees him return to his stylized best. But unfortunately apart from stylish shots and edits, the film leaves much to be desired.
One of the biggest faults of Jazbaa lies in the court scenes, which are a massive part of the film. The film's protagonist is a criminal lawyer whose daughter is kidnapped to make her take up a case of a rape convict. Her job is cut out - save the convict from getting hanged and get him out on bail.
The lawyer is Anuradha Verma (Aishwarya), the best in the business. That she is good is shown in first five minutes of the film. She wins a case against the public prosecutor in no time. The same scene speaks volumes about the kind of work that has gone into making the court sequences more interesting - absolutely none! Throughout the film there are multiple court scenes where the lawyer's arguments are so amateurish that filmmakers from '80s would crack up!
The effort that was not put into working out better court room scenes has gone into working out large scale production and some heavy duty dialogues - most of which is saved for Irrfan Khan's Inspector Yohan. Suspended for corruption and yet strangely influential with his own colleagues when it comes to getting work done, Yohan is one who likes using big dialogues. Dialogues that would impress, but dialogues which do not serve a purpose in the film!
Plenty of things work for the film, of course. Some interesting twists in the tale, a hard stance against rape, action sequences and performances by some actors. Irrfan and Shabhana Azmi are peak of the lot with performances. Irrfan is almost effortless as the yearning unreciprocated lover. Shabhana plays the mother of the girl for whose rapist's case Anuradha takes up. She is poignant and subtle and leaves an impact. Siddhanth Kapoor is also good in the little role he has.
The problem is Aishwarya. She completely fails to provide a single moment of exasperation of a mother whose daughter has been kidnapped. Ash fails to play the tough woman. Well, on the brighter side, she is still as beautiful as ever... heart!
A well paced first half later, there is a lot that falls into the second half. The twists should keep on engaged. However Jazbaa should have ended right after the kidnapper is revealed. A couple of forced scenes thereafter take away much of the impact.
Among other plusses is the fact that that the director continues to play with shades of grey - something that has so effortlessly done in the past.
Jazbaa will entertain in bits and leave you bewildered at points. Watch if you are hardcore Sanjay Gupta fan.
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