Jalsa review: Celebrate Vidya Balan, Shefali Shah’s captivating performances backed by a compelling story

3.5/5

A hit-and-run involving an 18-year-old girl (Kashish Rizwan) becomes the hub of a wheel that sets in motion many spokes, including a journalist (Vidya Balan), a rage-filled mother (Shefali Shah), a cop (Shrikant Yadav), and a system all caught in an ethical quandary. Questions are raised only to reveal that the truth is rarely pure or simple.

A captivating thriller can either keep you on the edge of your seat or just question you, "Why is it even happening?" It's not necessary that the genre has to be about whodunnit when a character is killed. That's the best part about Jalsa! You just get to know all the facts in the first 10-15 minutes of the film, and they are well-established. The rest of the film is about unwrapping and presenting the truth to the people who are involved.

Back in 2017, director Suresh Triveni broke into Bollywood scenes with Tumhari Sulu, which was a unique story, so to speak. His next film could also be expected to be as unique as one can imagine. But did anyone expect a major genre shift? Well, I didn't.

The film is more about keeping your eyes wide open so that you don't miss a moment when the powerful cast comes on screen. And also to keep your ears open for the haunting background score that has been composed and set perfectly with the tone of the film.

Jalsa has two female lead actors who are as different as chalk and cheese. One is a hard-hitting journalist named Maya Menon (Vidya Balan). The other is a cook at her home, Ruksana Mohammad (Shefali Shah). They both, although having their lives intertwined in every way, are kept at a distance throughout the film. That's the beauty that keeps the film going on.

We see two different stories having the same foundation: an accident involving a teenage girl taking place in Mumbai post-midnight hours. Even though it's known in the first few minutes of the film how and why it happened, spoiling it will just not be fun at all.

Triveni co-wrote the story and screenplay with Prajwal Chandrashekar, and in every aspect made it compelling and gripping. The first half is just stupendous, with all the detailing and slow-burning technique used well. Both Triveni and Chandrashekhar showed that we just have to get all the information possible as a hit-and-run case is not the only premise of the film. And they do pass with flying colours!

Jalsa is more about the unravelling of complex human emotions where empathy and guilt come together at once. We do see people being there for each other and standing by them in difficult times, but does it always come as a selfless deed? That's a pretty tricky question that sort of gets an answer in the film.

The narrative changes dramatically in the second half, adding a lot more characters. At one point, we might just feel how much damage a car accident can do. But the whole team put in good efforts to get the right answers without being so preachy and conveying an important lesson about human emotions.

Triveni put his heart out while casting the film, and not just Vidya and Shefali, but every supporting character is pitch-perfect in the role they have been put into.

But let's talk about the two powerhouses of talent who have come together, making Jalsa a casting coup. Vidya as a journalist is just calm and stable, the exact opposite of what we see where journalism is heading nowadays. The actor, as Maya, portrays a single mother who monitors her specially-abled son and his grandmother constantly while at work. She is a hands-on mother and daughter who juggles her professional and personal life efficiently. Well, we cannot imagine anyone else playing this role, and what a visual treat it's to watch Vidya on screen.

Talking about Shefali as Ruksana, the actor continues to let her eyes do the talking. A few scenes are so gut-wrenching that regardless of where she belongs, she keeps up with the world in the rightest way. Her scenes, especially with Vidya's on-screen son Ayush (Surya Kasibhatla), are heartbreaking to watch. Going by her recent career trajectory, the actor keeps up in every frame, and that's something one can only expect from Shefali.

Other supporting characters, including Rohini Hattangadi as Vidya's onscreen mother, are fabulous. So is Mohammed Iqbal Khan, who plays the head of the channel where the National Award-winning actor is the lead anchor. Shrikant Yadav, as a cop named More, and Vidhatri Bandi, as Rohini George, a trainee reporter at the Kahaani actor's workplace, play their roles well.

Manav Kaul, as Vidya's onscreen ex-husband, has a very brief role, but his presence brings a few feel-good and lighter moments in the film.

Hussain Dalal and Abbas Dalal's dialogues are pretty interesting and penned perfectly to not only suit the narrative but also the actors who are mouthing them. We have to credit the editor, Shivkumar V Panicker, who cut the film in such a way that until the last frame you might just sit and get lost in wonderment.

The original score composed for the film is by Gaurav Chatterji, who has put in the minutest efforts with the sound effects. The cracking of glass is especially a sound that has stayed with me even now, and the reason why it's heard every time in the film is justified aptly.

It's a great time for Jalsa to be watched as we crave the content-driven films that have been lost in translation recently. What more could there be than having Vidya and Shefali come together and narrate a story that is unconventional in its way?

With their amazing performances matched by a captivating storyline, "powerhouses of talent" Vidya Balan and Shefali Shah will keep you enthralled until the very end. Director Suresh Triveni deserves praise for creating a story that has you on the edge of your seat the entire time.