Jazbaa, a remake of Korean film Seven Days, gives wings to his imagination and he dreams the Maximum City in saturated colours.This movie is touted as Aishwarya Rai Bachchan‘s comeback vehicle and she’s got a meaty role to justify it. In an age-appropriate role, Aishwarya plays a successful lawyer, Anuradha Varma, who’s also a single mother to her daughter Sanaaya (Sara Arjun).
The film begins when a top-notch lawyer Anuradha Verma (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) goes to compete in a parent-child race in her daughter Shanaya’s (Sara Arjun) school. Very soon, Anuradha finds out that Shanaya has been kidnapped because somebody wants her to fight a rape case and ensure that the prime accused Miyaaz (Chandan Roy Sanyal) goes scot-free.
So, the story revolves around a hard-skinned lawyer. Anuradha (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) Anuradha is known for her skills of acquitting convicts and she does it, well, sans any guilt. But, she really faces a tryst with her wisdom when she gets a call from a random man who has kidnapped her daughter (Sanaya) and wants her to acquit a rapist murderer in exchange of her daughter – in a few days of time. She must save the convict if she wants her daughter back, no matter how morally wrong it may seem. To pursue her mission, she seeks the help of suspended cop Yohan (Irrfan Khan), who has a secret admiration for her. Shabana Azmi is the grieving mother of the daughter whose rapist murderer Anuradha is trying to save.
‘Jazbaa’ isn’t just a tale of a kidnap-rescue plot or a mother trying to save her daughter. It is actually an uncanny tussle between two mothers fighting for their daughters. It is the in-your-face attitude you must embrace at times to face the scathing realities of life. And it is about love, too. About loving without forcing , and loving just to be. It is about the unusual concoction of ethics and emotions.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan hams her way through the court scenes where she is half decent. Irrfan Khan needs no introduction but sometimes the weak writing even makes him look bland. Shabana Azmi who plays the mother of rape victim Sia is competent in the role but proves to be lacking in the final summation. Atul Kulkarni as public prosecutor is dignified but lacks screen space. Watch out for Jackie Shroff in what could be considered a cameo due to the length of time he is allotted. The remaining cast including Abhimanyu Singh, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Priya Banerjee and Sidhanth Kapoor give their two bits reluctantly.
Remakes are not something new in our industry and this too is a remake of a Korean film. Yet Sanjay Gupta’s everlasting love to extenuate and exacerbate the melodrama is once again at the forefront of this movie. The end result is watching for the sake of watching but not actually connecting with anyone. Jazbaa proves to be emotionless.
Genre – Action, Thriller
Cast – Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Irrfan Khan and Shabana Azm
Director – Sanjay Gupta
Rating – 3/5
