*Spoilers in plenty*
Delhi is all about power, here everybody is somebody.. nobody is a nobody here. Thats the line Rani speaks as she introduces us to the film and the city where a major crime is about to take place.
A girl named Jessica(Myra Karn) working as a bartender at a party is shot dead by Manish Bharadwaj (Mohammad Zeeshan Ayub who is son of a politician. The crime committed by Jessica was that she refused to give a drink to Manish since the bar was closed. Manish offers her 1000 Rs, but when she refuses, he in fist of anger fires a bullet at her. Jessica dies and hence leaves her sister Sabrina(Vidya Balan) to fight for Justice. How and with what hurdles Sabrina gets the justice, is what the whole story is all about with media playing a very important role in helping her, which in this case is Meera(Rani Mukherjee).
Normally films related to a real life incident that is quite emotional could go either totally wrong while bringing the subject onto the screen or it can be a total hardhitting material. No one Killed Jessica comes into the latter category. RajKumarGupta deals with the subject in such a way that the film neither gives a image of documentary nor it goes completely into the filmy zone. Instead he opts for a path where he will try to keep the subject to as real as possible and at the same time keep a dose of entertainment. He uses real locations, lots of theatre actors, close up camera shots and ofcourse Amit Trivedi's music to his best advantage.
In the court scenes, he uses the back and fro camera shots, which is very rare. Also special mention the background music, especially the one that plays after Jessica's death portraying the helplessness of Sabrina at many places.
Very good screenplay, good skip at court cases, upto the point scenes. Editing was good.
"Sabrina ji kaise log hai yeh, nafrat ho gayi hai mujhe aapki iss high society ke logon se", a dialogue by the inspector to the Jessica Case sums up the 300 witnesses who were present at the party when the murder happened. Very Good Dialogues written, be it Sabrina telling the mediaperson about how that person decided a glass of drink was above her sister's life, Kya kisi ki zindagi ki keemat itni kam hai hamari country hai, says a frustrated, angry and emotional Sabrina.
Locations of Delhi are very well used, just like RajKumarGupta's last film Aamir where he went deep into Mumbai's real locations to make the proceedings happening in the film appear so real as a viewer.
Amit's Music already had been a sensation, and Gupta makes sure its not wasted as each song gets used in the narration of the story at the right places. Dilli, a sarcastic take on the city while Aali re the signature song describing Meera i.e Rani's character very well. Yeh Pal portrays the sudden circumstances after Jessica's death which she had never thought she would have to face. Aetbaar as expected is the anger of Sabrina towards Jessica's so called well wishers and the system that lets Manish escape. And Dua, the best song visually in the film with a additional stanza not present in audio album, picturised at India Gate, the candle light march inspired from Rang De Basanti film. The song has a very emotional feel in it and Gupta so wonderfully makes those words in the song felt through the picturisation of the song.
There are few flaws in the film, for instance, the filmy angle given with the repeated dialogue of Manish's mother "Kuch bhi kariye, mere monu ko kuch nahi hona chahiye" or the "kab tak chatt par rahega". Although the court scenes were tackled uniquely, still the writing could had been better. The actor playing Sabrina's mother was touch too melodramatic. And the political leaders portrayal done in the pre climax was I feel not really required.
Gupta again has tried lots of symbolisms and metaphors, "Men at work" used to tell Sabrina that the witnesses are one by one going to betray her since the people are working at that from Manish side. Then, there was Kargil war's soldiers dead comparison done with Jessica dead. And the parallel scene of Manish doing religious act while Sabrina is at hospital with her mother.
These scenes especially leaves a major impact after coming out of the theatre...
• The way Gupta develops the party atmosphere leading upto the death scene of Jessica in the film.
• Sabrina giggling at a conversation by her lawyer in the court at a serious time, in a way showing that she is still in the growing up stage.
• Sabrina walking on a road lost in her thoughts and almost strikes with a huge elephant in front whom she couldnt notice even.
• The use of F word by Sabrina after verdict given by the court, a sign of losing entire hope.
• Interval sequence, the newspaper showing "No one Killed Jessica" with da da dilli background theme. The way Gupta pans the camera towards the camera and zooms in towards the headline, that just generates a emotional touch towards the injustice happened with Jessica.
• The Rang de Basanti candle angle shown as inspiration.
• And the final closing scene of Jessica in the end.
RajKumarGupta had two options, either to go for a good sweet ending by doing another court scene, this time in favour of Sabrina or to end the way he did in the film with a voiceover of what happened later by Rani and ending the film at the graveyard scene. Very good thought indeed, as this way he made much more impact. Though, there would be some people who would have preferred the 1st climax instead.
Performances wise,
Vidya Balan gives her best performance till date.(I am yet to see Parineeta) The way she handles her character that is in a way childish, who likes to keep away from her sister's fun party atmosphere since she doesnt drink nor like to dance as seen by the way she attempts to dance in a scene. How the proceedings around her, makes her grow up, how we see Vidya portray that transition, her state of mind at different stages, her trust broken, regained, her emotions at death of Jessica and how politely she shows her anger at Manish during the journalist tv interview. She is totally flawless. And I especially liked the costumes that were choosen for her, they again acted as a symbolism of the kind of person she was and the person she has now transformed into.
Rani Mukherjee was actually never gone. Just her films werent working, her performances had never gone down. But this film works for her mainly because the character goes with her image very well. She is totally opposite to what Vidya is in the film. Rani is a grown up journalist, who likes to use lots of slangs, likes to be called bitch, smokes too. She very well portrays the attitude her character has towards her work, always dominating and yet cant see any injustice too.
The rest theatre actors and the police inspector especially did a very good work.
In the end, No one Killed Jessica is just not a film. Like Gupta himself clarified in the starting of the film, its a hybrid mixture of fiction and reality. The film gives a message, that you need to fight against the injustice no matter how hopeless your condition is. And more than often, you would require a support like Meera(Rani Mukherjee) does in this film or the media did in the real Jessica case. In such times, you would find who were your true friends and who were just pretending to be your friends. Its a film that should be seen for the storytelling of RajKumarGupta, performances of Vidya and Rani and Amit's Music.
Rating : 4.5 Out of 5
Gupta again has tried lots of symbolisms and metaphors, "Men at work" used to tell Sabrina that the witnesses are one by one going to betray her since the people are working at that from Manish side. Then, there was Kargil war's soldiers dead comparison done with Jessica dead. And the parallel scene of Manish doing religious act while Sabrina is at hospital with her mother.
These scenes especially leaves a major impact after coming out of the theatre...
• The way Gupta develops the party atmosphere leading upto the death scene of Jessica in the film.
• Sabrina giggling at a conversation by her lawyer in the court at a serious time, in a way showing that she is still in the growing up stage.
• Sabrina walking on a road lost in her thoughts and almost strikes with a huge elephant in front whom she couldnt notice even.
• The use of F word by Sabrina after verdict given by the court, a sign of losing entire hope.
• Interval sequence, the newspaper showing "No one Killed Jessica" with da da dilli background theme. The way Gupta pans the camera towards the camera and zooms in towards the headline, that just generates a emotional touch towards the injustice happened with Jessica.
• The Rang de Basanti candle angle shown as inspiration.
• And the final closing scene of Jessica in the end.
RajKumarGupta had two options, either to go for a good sweet ending by doing another court scene, this time in favour of Sabrina or to end the way he did in the film with a voiceover of what happened later by Rani and ending the film at the graveyard scene. Very good thought indeed, as this way he made much more impact. Though, there would be some people who would have preferred the 1st climax instead.
Performances wise,
Vidya Balan gives her best performance till date.(I am yet to see Parineeta) The way she handles her character that is in a way childish, who likes to keep away from her sister's fun party atmosphere since she doesnt drink nor like to dance as seen by the way she attempts to dance in a scene. How the proceedings around her, makes her grow up, how we see Vidya portray that transition, her state of mind at different stages, her trust broken, regained, her emotions at death of Jessica and how politely she shows her anger at Manish during the journalist tv interview. She is totally flawless. And I especially liked the costumes that were choosen for her, they again acted as a symbolism of the kind of person she was and the person she has now transformed into.
Rani Mukherjee was actually never gone. Just her films werent working, her performances had never gone down. But this film works for her mainly because the character goes with her image very well. She is totally opposite to what Vidya is in the film. Rani is a grown up journalist, who likes to use lots of slangs, likes to be called bitch, smokes too. She very well portrays the attitude her character has towards her work, always dominating and yet cant see any injustice too.
The rest theatre actors and the police inspector especially did a very good work.
In the end, No one Killed Jessica is just not a film. Like Gupta himself clarified in the starting of the film, its a hybrid mixture of fiction and reality. The film gives a message, that you need to fight against the injustice no matter how hopeless your condition is. And more than often, you would require a support like Meera(Rani Mukherjee) does in this film or the media did in the real Jessica case. In such times, you would find who were your true friends and who were just pretending to be your friends. Its a film that should be seen for the storytelling of RajKumarGupta, performances of Vidya and Rani and Amit's Music.
Rating : 4.5 Out of 5
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