Jalsa (जलसा)

​"Jalsa (जलसा)"

Watched Hindi movie "Jalsa (जलसा)". 

This film is directed by Suresh Triveni. Written by Prajwal Chandrashekhar, Suresh Triveni, Hussain Dalal, Abbas Dalal. Produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar and others. The film stars Vidya Balan, Shefali Shah, Rohini Hattangdi, Manav Kaul, Junaid Khan, Ghanashyam Lalsa, Mohammed Iqbal Khan, Vidhatri Bandi & Shrikant Yadav. Cinematography by Saurabh Goswami. Music by Gaurav Chatterji. The film runs for about 2 hour 6 minutes and was released in 2022. I watched it on Amazon Prime on 3rd April 2022 with Aditi. 

Vidya is a hotshot TV journalist, divorced with autistic son. Her maid Shefali takes care of her son and house. Returning home late one night her car hits a young girl. Rather than helping her, she runs away. It turns out she is Shefali’s daughter. 

It’s a battle for Vidya. On one side her reputation doesn’t let her speak and on the other her conscience doesn’t let her keep quiet.

She can’t ask the young reporter to abandon investigation but can’t ask her to continue. It’s a battle for Shefali too. On one side Vidya is paying hospital bills and on other police is trying to suppress the case. She isn’t able to make any headway. She can’t let the accident go, she can’t let the perpetrator go. It’s a battle for Hawaldar More (Shrikant Yadav). On one side he is an honest cop and on other he is going against his nature to avoid blemish on his career before retirement. It’s battle in the minds of all the characters. 

This movie, despite being a poignant one, doesn’t pose questions. Rather director leverages on the good side of human beings, the sense of duty and justice. Director handles the story deftly and except for a couple of instances where the pace and intensity drops a little but he does well. If the editor has trimmed another 15 minutes, it would have become crisper. Name of movie hardly has any relevance to the story. 

Vidya and Shefali deliver powerful performances. Both are accomplished actresses. Either one could have done either role and they would have performed equally well. It’s good to see the clash of these actresses. Shrikant is a very good actor who hasn’t received roles of his caliber. 

Positives: Vidya, Shefali, Shrikant. 

Negatives: Length. 

Recommend watching.