Review: Jalsa
Jalsa, headlined by two formidable women in their 40s, is a slow burn, intense drama that unfolds like a psychological thriller. It studies the intricacies of human behavior, motherhood, self-reflection, and behavior when pushed over the edge.
It follows the story of a hit-and-run case in the backdrop of a skewed power dynamic at play. The woman behind the wheel is Maya Menon (played by Vidya Balan); the girl she hits is Alia Mohammed. Alia turns out to be the 18-year-old daughter of Ruksana (Shefali Shah), Maya’s long-time cook, who also plays a nanny to her son.
In Maya’s posh apartment, they all live happily. However, blood tends to be thicker than water. It is a thoughtfully crafted morality story. Yet, the film isn’t a social commentary. Panning over a week, Maya uses her power to cover up her tracks. She gives Alia the best medical care, but her conscience has no price.
A strong independent woman now quivers and shakes in front of cameras. Her hands shake while driving and she is constantly rubbing the sweat off her temples.
Vidya Balan plays journalist Maya Menon and Shefali Shah plays her house cook Ruksana in Suresh Triveni’s thriller Jalsa.
The beauty of the film also lies in the way Suresh Triveni treats his characters. There is no good and no bad. Each character is a combination of various traits and lies in the middle. You root for only truth and justice throughout the film, and not a character. Even the supporting characters – a young journalist trainee, policemen who want to quash the case, a mechanic, and a humble politician – all of them are torn between morality and survival and are shaped by their immediate surroundings.
However, in some areas, not much heed is given to character arcs, which make them very one-dimensional without having layers to explore. For instance, we are never told why Maya and her husband (Manav Kaul) are separated, why Maya's mother (Rohini Hattangadi) lives with her, what's the medical condition her son is struggling with, and if there is something more between Maya and her colleague. The ambitions of trainee journalist Rohini George (Vidhatri Bandi) are also not told to us — all these details, however small, would have definitely added to the story and given depth to the narrative.
CCTV also plays a huge role in this film. On one hand, it acts as a testimony to the accident and brings out the police corruption in the system. On the other hand, Maya uses a CCTV to constantly watch her son Aayush.
What I really liked about Jalsa is its use of sight and sound which shapes the outcome of the setting. For example, the film opens on a black screen as the credits roles, with sounds of Alia's commute – the road, the railway station, local train, and motorbike, we don’t see her till it gets quite late into the night.
The sights and sounds also help bring out the bridge and divide between the two classes, which Triveni has carefully executed. For instance, when Ruksana, violently breaks down at one point in the film, the shot cuts to the exterior of her house; we only hear her agony.
In contrast, when Maya breaks down early on in her parking lot, we see and hear her crumple in a heap of shock.
For cinematographer Saurabh Goswami, Jalsa offered two distinct spaces to explore. On one hand, the swanky huge office and house of Maya Menon and the bright lights of Mumbai. On the other, are the street-level views and dark crannies and nooks of the city, along with messy homes of the underprivileged that serve the city’s middle class and elite.
Overall, Jalsa will keep you on the edge of your seats in the first half. It will curiously grab your attention in the first few minutes itself, as you root for justice to be served amidst the flaws that exist within the systems of police, politics, media, and the rich.
You can watch it on Amazon Prime Video.
