Friday, January 14, 2011

No One killed Jessica - Movie Review.


No – One killed Jessica, second film directed by filmmaker Raj Kumar Gupta is based on the real life murder trial of Jessica Lall, a model in New Delhi. The film in the beginning, promises to be a hybrid of fact and fiction. The backdrop of the film revolves around the city “New Delhi”.
The movie has a strong story to tell and it has a huge responsibility to do justice with the actual happenings. When I went through the reviews of many critics, I noticed that they were beginning to judge the over-dramatization of the script. When the real Sabrina Lall, is quite content with the outcome of the movie, then who are we to decide the over-dramatization of the film.
Talking about the movie, well the screenplay is written keeping in mind the events that occurred from 1999 to 2009. The screenplay-writer had a huge role to play in this movie and Gupta has succeeded in many parts. There are scenes that evoke your feelings, with heart-wrenching performances by two lead actors of Indian Cinema – Rani Mukherjee and Vidya Balan preferably because of good character sketch and honest attempt at portraying the case. In some parts, the film become a little to exaggerated or clichéd, especially in the second half of the movie. There are beautifully written and portrayed scenes, my favourite being when Sabrina gets a call at night, where the caller says – “Jessica has been shot”
The movie’s another strong point is its music. It acts as a pillar against scenes where the screenplay fails. Amit trivdedi does his best in the soundtrack ‘Delhi’ which describes the cruelty of the city. Vidya Balan honestly plays the part of Sabrina. The look of frustration, anger and sadness is perfect in her acting skills. She quite easily steals the show from Rani Mukerjee preferably because her character demands more screen presence. Rani Mukherjee is portrayed as a nonchalant and a rebellious journalist with foul-mouthed tongue. She adds power to the screen by her acting presence. The writer fails to depict other prominent characters that hold significant importance in the issue like Jessica’s parents, Manu Sharma. However the actor who plays Shayan Munsi’s part is brilliant. Bina Ramani’s role becomes more of a caricature in the movie.
The direction isn’t quite impressive. Gupta could have done a lot better job with his camera techniques. However from the point of view of a common audience I would suggest it’s a must watch movie, especially for its content and gripping thriller. Go for it!
P.S. if people complain about the movie being a masala movie, I have one thing to say “had it been an art movie, who would have watched it” – so don’t complain about its commercialization because when it involves huge bucks, a filmmaker has reform his techniques.

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