Star cast: Rani Mukerji, Vidya Balan.
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Plot: The film is based on the Jessica Lall murder case.
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What’s Bad: The lack of emotions; the tame climax.
Verdict: No One Killed Jessica will be liked by the city-based, multiplex-frequenting audience but not by the public in smaller centres and those going to the single-screen cinemas.
Loo break: None at all.
To Watch Or Not? Definitely! Aesthetically, very good.
UTV Motion Pictures’ No One Killed Jessica (A) is based on the true-life story of the Jessica Lall murder case and how it had to be reopened by the court due to public outcry against the verdict of holding the murderer not guilty. Although it does not profess to be a blow-by-blow account of the real-life murder case, it borrows heavily from the case
Sabrina Lall (Vidya Balan) and her family are woken up one night by a phone call informing them that her sister, Jessica (Myra Karn) had been shot at. On rushing to the hospital, they are informed by Jessica’s friend, Vikram (Neil Bhoopalam), that Jessica had been shot at by a customer at the pub at which she was volunteering as a bartender that night with him. The customer’s instigation to shoot at Jessica was her refusal to serve him a drink after the bar was closed for the night.
Jessica breathes her last the same night. The murderer and his two friends are soon arrested. What seems to be an open-and-shut case because of the hundreds of eyewitnesses in the murder case, who were present at the pub when Jessica was shot at, turns out to be a nightmarish experience for Jessica’s family. Most of the eyewitnesses back out by lying to the police that they had left the pub when the firing took place. The handful of witnesses, who do decide to testify in court, are bought out and/or threatened by the influential political family of the killer, Manish Bharadwaj (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub). Finally, the killer is pronounced innocent in the absence of any witness in court and is set free.
Mira Gaity (Rani Mukerji) is a fiesty news reporter working for a television news channel. Shocked by the court’s verdict, Mira decides to educate the public by presenting the truth about the murder before it. No sooner does she gather some evidence to prove that Manish is guilty and telecast her story than public support starts building up. Mira tries to get Sabrina on her channel but a dejected and disgusted Sabrina doesn’t respond to the TV channel’s calls. By now, Sabrina’s mother has passed away because of the shock of her daughter’s killer going scot free. Sabrina’s father has been hospitalised due to the double shock. But once the momentum builds up and the public is ready to come out in large numbers to condemn the court verdict in the Jessica Lall murder case, Mira gets Sabrina to participate in the candle march held in her memory.
The growing public outcry forces the president of India to ask the court to reopen the murder case. Manish’s family members are exposed for buying out the eyewitnesses in the case. Finally, the court holds Manish guilty and punishes him with life imprisonment in the same case in which he had been earlier held innocent.
Story and Screenplay
The Jessica murder case first and the judgement next had created such a furore that the story is quite fresh in everybody’s mind. As far as the screenplay, penned by Raj Kumar Gupta, is concerned, it has its highs and lows. A more taut script could have done away with the dips that come in the first as well as second halves of the drama.
On the plus side are the characterisation of Mira Gaity whose straightforwardness will appeal to the audience. She uses four-letter words in her routine conversations so easily that that would be a new high for the viewers. Of course, since most of the swear words are in English, the high would be experienced more by the city-based audience. Here, it must be mentioned that a lot of other dialogues too in the film are in English, taking away, to some extent, the universality of appeal of the subject.
Jessica’s character has not been established well enough for the audience to feel sympathy towards her. In fact, considering that she frequents pubs, consumes alcohol, serves drinks to guys and girls, dances with guys in drunken stupor and uses four-letter words, the orthodox audience, which means a large chunk of the audience outside the 15 or 20 major cities of the country, may not feel for Jessica after she is murdered because in their psyche, she would be passed off as a girl of easy virtues and, therefore, someone not to be sympathised with, mainly for the company she kept. Had the director cast an established heroine with a clean screen image in the role of Jessica and/or had he taken care to present the girl as being noble, kind or golden-hearted, it would have made it far easier for even the orthodox public to love Jessica and feel sympathetic towards her.
It must be mentioned here that all is still not lost because the Jessica murder case in real life was such a high-profile case that a lot of people felt hatred towards the perpetrators of the crime on her without even knowing her. But if one is talking about the screenplay, the lack of establishment of Jessica’s character is a minus point.
An unfortunate part of the drama is that a section of the audience would not even feel hatred towards the eyewitnesses who turn hostile because their hostility has a lot to do with their fearing for their own lives. With no protection being offered to eyewitnesses, a lot of the viewers would not feel like condemning their hostile attitude. However, it is a fact that the sentiment of condemnation would’ve added to the enjoyment of the drama.
While Mira’s crusade against the murderer and his accomplices after they are acquitted is exciting, Sabrina’s lack of participation irritates the audience, if only because her behaviour borders on defiance rather than on dejection, despair and despondence. Note, for instance, how Sabrina throws the telephone receiver back into the cradle because she is aware that the media is trying to get in touch with her. Even Sabrina’s outburst about how her personal life was being ruined because of the murder case may not be appreciated by a section of the viewers because although it reflects her frustration at the corrupt legal system, it somewhere unwittingly shows her as being a bit selfish. Since Sabrina and her family are the victim’s kin, the traditional audience would only like to feel sorry for them, maybe shed some tears for them. Scenes like the above come in the way of their ‘enjoyment’ of an emotional drama.
This brings us to the point of the emotional quotient of the film. A story like this ought to have drawn tears from even the eyes of the stone-hearted but, quite surprisingly, the film doesn’t move the audience to tears. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that many among the viewers would want to cry while watching the film but cannot, because the drama does not peak to the emotional high it ought to. For this, the script is as much to be blamed as the narration. The ending is tame and not just because it doesn’t make the viewer cry but also because the audience expects to see the court’s judgement being pronounced and, probably, Sabrina and Mira (yes, Mira too!) breaking down in court. But what the viewer gets is a mere voice over about the court ruling. An issue-based film with such strong emotional undertones ought to make the viewer cry – if it doesn’t, it’s a minus point.
It may be added here that the points raised in the last three paragraphs above may be of concern for the masses among the audience but these very points may actually prove to be plus points for the classes which may appreciate the absence of cliched scenes and melodrama in the film.
Another notable point: both the heroines of the film make lofty promises but fail to keep them. Sabrina announces that she had made herself and her late sister, Jessica, a promise that she wouldn’t shed a tear till she had got justice for her (Jessica). But yet, she starts to cry at the candle march. Surely, Sabrina couldn’t have known at the candle march that the case would soon be reopened. In any case, she was hardly responsible for the candle march in the first place, so it wasn’t even as if she had gotten justice (if the march can at all be called ‘getting justice’) for her sister. Mira tells her assistant, Aditi (), that she would make her famous for her farsightedness in the Jessica Lall murder case. But once the case is ‘reopened’ by Mira’s TV channel, she never lets the world know about Aditi’s farsightedness. In fact, it is always Mira who comes across as the hero. So, the discerning audience feels let down by the unkept promises of the two heroines who are the virtual heroes of the drama.
Both, the first and second halves of the film have scenes that seem stretched. Dialogues (by Raj Kumar Gupta) go with the mood of the film and are appealing.
Star Performances
Rani Mukerji does a fine job, getting into the skin of the character of the fiesty journalist who has no qualms about speaking her heart out and using swear words at the drop of a hat. Vidya Balan plays Sabrina Lall well but a little variation in how she approaches the many scenes would’ve added to her performance. Having said this, it must be added that the viewer somehow gets the feeling that both, Rani and Vidya, are trying too hard to impress him. Myra Karn is okay as Jessica Lall. Neil Bhoopalam is quite nice in the role of Vikram. As Manish Bharadwaj, the murderer, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub is fair. Yogendra Tikku and Geeta Sudan perform ably as Jessica’s grieving parents. Bubbles Sabharwal (as Mallika Sehgal) and Samara Chopra (as Naina Sehgal) lend adequate support. Satyadeep Mishra leaves a mark as Mira Gaity’s (Rani Mukerji’s) boss. Shireesh Sharma (as Pramod Bharadwaj, father of Manish) is effective. Rajesh Sharma (as policeman N.K.) shines. Avijit Dutt is effective in the role of defence lawyer B.M. Pandit. K.K. Shukla (as Sabrina’s lawyer) and Ashu Sharma and Param Baidwan (as the two accomplices of Manish Bharadwaj) lend fair support. Maanvi Gaagaroo makes her presence felt as Rani’s colleague, Aditi.
Direction, Music & Editing
Raj Kumar Gupta’s direction and narrative style are of the kind which would hold appeal more for the city-based and multiplex audiences. There’s an overdose of English dialogues in the film, which would restrict the film’s appeal. Amit Trivedi’s music is very good, especially the ‘Dilli Dilli’ and ‘Aali re’ songs. His background score could’ve been better. Amitabh Bhattacharya’s lyrics deserve mention. Anay Goswami’s camerawork is fair. Aarti Bajaj’s editing is good.
The Last Word
On the whole, No One Killed Jessica impresses more than it inspires when it should have actually inspired and thereby impressed. It is a fair fare for select multiplexes in the big cities and only the good single-screen cinemas. It cannot be expected to score universally.
Business in ordinary single-screen cinemas will be very dull. Although it has taken a slow start, it is bound to pick up by positive word of mouth, in the big cities of each state. Business in Delhi and the North will be better because the Jessica murder happened in Delhi. Collections in cities like Bombay, Pune and Bangalore will also be good.
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