“No One Killed Jessica” is a massive disappointment

The Jessica Lall murder case is one of the most important events in recent Indian history. The crime committed by a politician’s hot-headed son, the shocking manner in which the investigation was handled, the way in which the witnesses turned (read: were made to turn) uncooperative, the media’s role in exposing the corruption behind certain acts and the subsequent public frenzy… all of these are pivotal incidents that reveal, and have influenced, a lot about Indian society today.

I don’t exactly know what the people behind No One Killed Jessica were aiming for when they made the film but I’m pretty sure they realised the gravitas of the premise. I am also pretty sure they realised that this film could have become an important landmark in & of itself. But unfortunately, it isn’t. Not only does it fail to do justice to the real-life incident in any way whatsoever, it’s a pretty mediocre film as it is.

I am a fan of Raj Kumar Gupta’s first directorial venture, Aamir, and I was quite intrigued by the promotional blitzkrieg UTV Spotboy initiated for this film. However, due to circumstances beyond my control (hint: I hate my school), I couldn’t see the film during its theatrical run and only recently managed to catch up with it on DVD. Although it’s been nearly three months since the film’s release, I had to vent out my thoughts on the film, and well… here they are.

First up, let’s tackle this proclivity the film has of “dumbing” things down. It’s almost as if not only do the makers lack confidence in their script/actors/narrative skills… but they also think we in the audience are idiots, who won’t understand something unless it’s well & truly LOUD. The most prominent case of this is the first sting operation scene. That is such a stunning real-life story that the movie’s script lifted some dialogue verbatim from what actually happened. But Raj Kumar Gupta ruins the scene by adding his own directorial “flourishes”, such as Rani Mukherjee’s character Meera telling the journalist at the scene to slap Vikram Jai Singh (the Shayan Munshi character). What follows is a pathetic exchange that undermines the whole scene until that moment. And by the end, despite all of the hammering (actually, because of that), there’s no sense of euphoria or even relief at the breakthrough.

In fact, I have a problem with the entire journalistic aspect of the film. In real life, Tehelka was the one doing all the investigations (you can – and should – read this excellent article recounting them), but the movie instead chooses to attribute this to NDTV. I don’t know the real reasons behind this choice, but it *is* very jarring. Even if the makers were having problems with Tehelka, or just didn’t want to use their name in the film, then the final product would have been better had they used a fictional outlet. As it is right now, all the prominent NDTV placement rings hollow.

But then again, that may have a lot to do with Rani Mukherjee and the role she plays, Meera. As shallow, unlikable and unbelievable as the character is, Mukherjee’s shrill and – frankly – pathetic portrayal only exacerbates the problem. I have no issues with someone who proudly proclaims herself to be a “bitch” approximately 13765 times, but when that is only the least of the troubles, we are talking about full-on disaster mode. Rani’s Meera cannot have one conversation without swearing, so it’s kind of a bummer that she’s terrible at it. There’s one scene in the film where her boss says something, and she just repeats it to him – but with a swear word attached (although this makes little, if any, difference). It’s cringe-inducing instances like these that make her character nigh-impossible to endure. During all her scenes, I never once felt that a tough-as-nails female journalist was swearing because the situation demanded it. It always felt that an A-list actress was waving her hands at us and imploring us to notice how rebellious her character is. Thanks, but no thanks.

Rani Mukherjee’s performance would have been the worst of the lot in many films, but the entire ensemble is so bad that she’s given a run for her money. Vidya Balan is given a character lighter than the paper she was written on. She has just about nothing to work with, and the ONE moment in the film where she gets a chance to actually do something (I’m talking about when she laughs in the courtroom), she shines. “Wasted opportunity” doesn’t even begin to cover it.

The peripheral characters are almost uniformly bad and a major sticking-point for me is the way they speak. Quite a few conversations in the film are entirely in English and though I have little doubt that that’s how the real-life counterparts must have spoken, the actors just don’t sound convincing while at it. The only people who do well here, in my opinion, are Rajesh Sharma (the investigating police officer) (*) and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub (the killer, Manish Bharadwaj). And the standout of the cast is Myra, who plays Jessica and is an absolute revelation.

Moving on from the acting, the writing on display in No One Killed Jessica is some of the most inept I’ve come across in recent times. The court sequences are astoundingly amateurish and the “dumbing down” tendencies combine with the turgid dialogue to create some scenes that are memorable (but not in the way the filmmakers intended, I’m sure). For example, in a film full of one-dimensional characters, the only logical step remaining when it came to the defense lawyer was to give him a big moustache to twirl, because that’s how much of a caricature he is.

I could go on all day about the missteps in this movie. But in a post that some would say is already kind of pointless (it’s been three months; come on), I doubt I need to carry on any more. So, to wrap up I’ll just say that No One Killed Jessica is a naive, obtuse venture that I certainly wouldn’t recommend to anyone. What about you?

(*) A big thanks to Jahan Singh Bakshi for helping out the actor’s name.

You can register to this blog and keep up with the posts!

You can also subscribe to the RSS Feed to stay updated!

To stay in the loop, follow me on Twitter!