Lojja review: Priyanka Sarkar and Anujoy Chatterjee tell a heartbreaking tale of verbal violence in a cliched drama

3/5

Lojja story: 

Jaya (Priyanka Sarkar) – a simpleton homemaker – is married to Partha (Anujoy Chatterjee) – a successful man and a ruthlessly abusive husband. His abuses are not physical but brutally verbal. What impact it leaves on Jaya and how she deals with her scars is what the web series is all about. 

Also read: Bodhon 2 review: Indrasish Roy and Sandipta Sen’s social drama is gripping 

Lojja review: 

Aditi Roy picks yet another social justice topic, verbal abuse, for her newest web series on Hoichoi. It is pertinent and heartbreaking and yet it follows the same formula as her Bodhon or Noshtoneer. We will get there later.  

Domestic violence does not always leave physical scars. It also comes in the form of verbal abuse, gaslighting, and most importantly, social conditioning. Lojja ties them together in Jaya’s life. 

Also read: Lojja OTT release date – Watch Priyanka Sarkar file for divorce due to verbal abuse on THIS platform 

Jaya is not a regular girl. She is shy, submissive, and introverted, and suffers from low self-esteem. Fueled by the incessant humiliation and gaslighting from Partha, she loses control over herself. Her helpless journey is beautifully captured by Priyanka. 

Partha, on the other hand, is not only ruthless but also calculative and cunning. He pulls strings to frame his wife as effortlessly as he hurls abuses to Jaya. He has zero repents for his actions. Anujoy is one of the most prominent actors in his generation. In Lojja, he does a wonderful job. Playing Priyaka’s husband for an actor not half as seasoned as she is was not a joke. He does it brilliantly. 

The issue is pertinent and is presented on a simple, frill-free platter. It also invokes questions like how a woman gets traumatised despite all her material comfort and how lack of respect affects a human being. Through two characters – Jaya and her colleague Mou, beautifully portrayed by (Saoli Chattopadhyay) – also shows how resilience varies from person to person. All these together make Lojja an important watch. 

However, there are problems galore. First, most of the characters are largely black and white. There is no shade of complexity in any one of the leading characters. Second, much effort is taken to elaborate on Jaya’s misery and the end bit seems a bit disproportionately rushed. Some characters and instances need explanation and perhaps those are for the next season. 

Lastly, all these Hoichoi original series follow a typical pattern – a married couple with a child where one is a perpetrator and the other is a victim/ rebel. Victims are often gifted with the right friends and guides, usually around their workplace. And so on. With the characters and dialogues, the shows seem more like a serial, and that makes the shows simpleton and lack of any creative nuance.  

Lojja verdict: 

Lojja is evidently, a part of Hoichoi’s ‘social responsibility’ shows. While it has its usual problems, watch it for the heartbreak, empathy, and Priyanka and Anujoy’s performance.