Jalsa Movie Review: Vidya Balan And Shefali Shah’s Sterling Performances Deserve A Celebration

Story

The
opening
credits
of

Jalsa
sans
any
visuals,
almost
makes
you
feel
like
you
are
one
of
the
passengers
in
a
local
Mumbai
train.
The
running
commentary
on
the
speaker
system,
the
sound
of
the
train
approaching
and
leaving
the
platform
on
a
quiet
night;
it’s
just
enough
to
define
the
‘spirit’
of
the
city.

On
a
dead-silent
railway
station,
a
young
girl
pushes
the
guy
accompanying
her
and
storms
out
only
to
get
knock
down
by
a
speeding
car.
Lying
aside
on
the
street
and
profusely
bleeding,
there
isn’t
a
single
soul
to
rescue
her.
Meanwhile,
a
hot-shot
journalist
Maya
Menon
(Vidya
Balan)
grills
a
retired
judge
on
her
prime
time
show
and
their
interview
ends
up
getting
‘viral’
on
social
media
for
all
the
wrong
reasons.

Soon,
it
is
revealed
that
the
injured
girl
is
Ayesha,
daughter
of
Ruksana
(Shefali
Shah)
who
works
as
a
cook
at
the
Menon
household.
As
the
scenes
unfold
one
after
the
other,
Maya
and
Ruksana’s
lives
get
entangled
with
each
other
in
a
strange
way.

On
the
other
hand,
there’s
a
rookie
journalist
Rohini
(Vidhatri
Bandi)
in
Maya’s
office
who
is
keen
to
sniff
out
the
truth
from
the
disturbing
hit-and-run
case
involving
Ayesha.

Direction

After

Tumhari
Sulu,
Suresh
Triveni
teams
up
with
Vidya
Balan
again
for

Jalsa.
At
the
heart
of
this
investigative
thriller
lies
emotional
conflicts
faced
by
all
the
characters
at
some
point
in
the
narrative.
The
best
thing
about
Triveni’s
universe
is
that
everyone
is
flawed
in
their
own
way.
They
have
their
moral
fabrics
intact,
but
they
also
go
astray
when
they
find
themselves
in
difficult
circumstances.
This
is
one
of
the
reasons
why
they
appear
relatable
to
a
great
extent.
Also,
the
film
has
some
interesting
twists
to
catch
you
off
guard.

However,
what
kills
the
fun
in

Jalsa
is
the
fact
that
the
director
takes
his
own
sweet
time
to
establish
the
conflicts.
The
cards
are
revealed
quite
early
in
the
plot
and
to
add
more
to
it,
the
slow-paced
narrative
takes
away
some
of
your
interest.

Also,
Suresh
Triveni
disappoints
when
it
comes
to
mastering
the
suspense
and
metaphor
in
the
climax.
It
just
leaves
you
a
tad
unsatisfied.

Performances

Vidya
Balan
proves
once
again
why
she
is
one
of
the
best
talents
in
Hindi
cinema.
Be
it
exuding
confidence
and
sassiness
as
the
celebrated
journalist
or
depicting
a
woman
who
loses
her
grip
when
she
is
forced
to
hide
a
truth,
the
actress
nails
every
shade
of
her
character.
The
trembling
of
hands,
the
beads
of
sweat
and
those
panic
attacks,
Vidya
delivers
everything
with
aplomb.

Next
comes
Shefali
Shah
whose
depiction
of
the
seething
rage
and
love
is
equally
powerful
as
Vidya’s.
Together,
these
two
women
take
Jalsa
to
the
finishing
line
with
minimal
damage
when
the
writing
and
execution
stumbles
a
bit.

Rohini
Hattangadi
as
Vidya’s
mother
makes
an
influential
impact
in
her
scenes.
Vidhatri
Bandi
as
the
newbie
journalist
is
promising.
The
kids,
Surya
Kasibhatla
and
Shafeen
Patel
are
delightful
in
their
respective
roles.
Director
Suresh
Triveni
lets
the
women
do
all
the
talking
in
Jalsa.
Nevertheless,
both
Iqbal
Khan
and
Manav
Kaul
in
a
cameo,
deliver
what
their
scenes
demand
out
of
them.

Technical
Aspects

One
of
the
highlights
of
Vidya
Balan-Shefali
Shah’s

Jalsa
is
Saurabh
Goswami’s
slick
cinematography
which
captures
the
pulse
of
the
city
in
an
intriguing
way
with
his
aerial
shots.
In
a
way,
he
plays
a
pivotal
role
in
setting
the
tonality
of
the
film.
Shivkumar
V.
Panicker
has
a
tight
grip
on
his
editing
scissors.

Music

Gaurav
Chatterji’s
background
score
in
the
opening
credits
and
a
few
other
places
is
a
character
in
itself
and
adds
more
layers
to
the
story-telling.
Speaking
about
the
songs,

Jalsa
has
only
one
track,
Shilpa
Rao’s
‘Thehar’ which
plays
when
the
end
credits
roll.
It’s
good
that
Suresh
Triveni
doesn’t
insert
unnecessary
tracks
in
the
narrative
which
could
have
diluted
the
thrills.

Verdict

In
one
of
the
scenes
in

Jalsa,
when
a
cop
asks
a
kid
accompanying
his
father
why
he
skipped
school
that
day,
the
latter
casually
quips,

‘Thoda
tension
thha.’
Such
light
moments
come
as
a
breather
in
the
otherwise
emotionally-charged
story-telling.

Despite
a
few
knockdowns,
Vidya
Balan
and
Shefali
Shah
succeed
in
driving

Jalsa
to
its
destination
and
treat
us
with
some
superlative
performances
on
the
way.