Introduction –
Jalsa, a psychological thriller, traces several intrinsic, creative notes effortlessly but also misses a few. Although the title may seem irrelevant for the major part of the film, it does make sense in the end ( Political Rally ). Another note which Jalsa has played perfectly is the inclusion of a child actor with cerebral palsy.
Synopsis –
Maya Menon ( Vidya Balan ) is a star Journalist / Anchor of a fictional popular channel ( Something akin to Republic ) and the face of television news industry. She is ruthless in her interviews and uncompromising in her demeanor. Things change one late night when after a long stint at the channel she heads home in her car. Tired and slightly drunk she hits a girl at high speed. The night echoes with the girl’s loud cry and the screeching of the tires as Maya brings the car to a halt. She is instantly gripped in shock, fear and confusion. Nonetheless, minutes later she drives away without offering help.
Maya soon realizes that the person she hit is none other than her maid / cook Ruksana’s ( Shefali Shah ) daughter, Alia ( Kashish Rizwan ). Ruksana is extremely close to Maya’s son, Ayush ( Surya Kasibhatla ) affected with Cerebral Palsy. Thus begins the journey of guilt, fear, anger and frustration.
Jalsa does well to introduce quite a few creative subplots involving a politician’s son, a young and inexperienced television reporter, Rohini George ( Vidhatri Bandi ), and a couple of junior policemen with their own micro stories which are directly connected with the case. The plot uses these characters and their motives to weave a story which reflects complex human personalities, self-conflicts and their respective adversities.
Analysis –
Some of our creative and technical peeves include the super lavish world of Maya Menon. How many reporters lead such a celebrity lifestyle? Everything about her is made to look larger than life. We believe it is a conscious effort … to turn a simple and innocent hit-and-run case into a high profile one. Our second peeve is the intern, the junior reporter. How can a channel as mammoth as the one shown in the film allocate such a sensitive case to her, although viewers are made to believe that the intern is investigating on her own. If that is the case then she looked absolutely unconvincing.
Lastly, the unnecessary use of filters and light effects killed some of the joy of watching Jalsa. It somehow dampened the ambience or maybe the motive was to soften the surroundings, make it look palpable, tense. On the flip side there are some shots which look visually impressive and a treat to the eyes. Direction is top notch and the credit goes to Suresh Triveni for some excellent visualizations and seamless editing. On the performance front Vidya Balan and Shefali Shah are outstanding while Rohini Hattangadi ( Maya’s Mother ) continues to impress us with her impeccable acting prowess.
2022 Suresh Triveni Prajwal Chandrashekar, Abbas Dalal, Hussain Dalal 126 Minutes Amazon Prime