Bollywood rarely gets its song and dance on with crime procedurals. Well, nobody gets a song and dance on dealing with bullet wounds, murder weapons, or rape, but of all forums, Bollywood would be the one to indulge. Sad to say that in the kipnap/rape/murder crime drama Jazbaa, nobody felt the need to line dance about setting bail.
Single Female Lawyer Anuradha Verma (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) kicks ass in the courtroom. In fact, she might kick a little too much ass; after the trial at the beginning, we see her complicit in the knowledge that the key piece of evidence has been withheld. She’s not pleased about it; we can tell from her body language that she isn’t a fan of having let a felon go free, but that didn’t stop her from letting injustice happen. In fact, she pushed for it.
When Anuradha isn’t getting felons free, she enjoys palling around with her elementary school daughter, Sanaya (Sara Arjun). On the fateful day in question, a mother-daughter track event is going on and in-between Sanaya handing the baton to mom and Anuradha winning the relay, Sanaya is kidnapped.
Oh, that’s low. What is up with that, India? You can’t even make her a kidnap victim because mom is a workaholic or got caught in traffic? What’s a mom supposed to do, pick up baton AND child and finish the relay with both? Last year, there was an Indian film in which a student without hands committed suicide because nobody would write her exam. I know you guys aren’t that heartless – find a better plot device.
What’s the deal? There’s a rape/murder slimeball on death row and Anuradha
has to get him acquitted in return for the safe return of her daughter. As kidnapping angles go? Not bad. Luckily, she has friend on the force, Yohann (Irrfan Kahn, currently undergoing a 2015 Jurassic World tour). Yohaan is suspended, up on corruption charges, but that frees up his time and morals for Anuradha.
Musical numbers or no, Jazbaa is a decent procedural; I couldn’t guess the twist and the final send-off shows the film is angry about rapists going free in India, which is, apparently, as common as Division I college football. Jazbaa feels like a pilot; not sure why exactly I say that except that I feel like we’ve only scratched the surface of Anuradha; her attention was so deep into the retrieval of her child, we barely get that’s she’s supposed to be the top defense attorney in the country. And where the Hell does Yohaan fit in? Childhood friend, yes, but former lover? Future lover? Present lover? This character feels strangely surface as well, like we’re waiting for more episodes to see what antics he gets up to. I am inviting all of my Hindi readers to please share what “Jazbaa” means. I don’t believe the film made mention. I’m guessing it means “Single Female Lawyer,” but that’s just because I watch too much “Futurama.”
♪Law woman told the magistrate
You gotta let that scumbag walk
Here’s evidence, don’t hesitate
Justice here is a crock
The cop he tailed the squealer
All the way to the roof
And now he needs a healer
But Yohaan got some proof
The rapist was a rightie
Rock the Jazbaa, rock the Jazbaa
Got bloodstains on the nightie
Rock the Jazbaa, rock the Jazbaa♫
Not Rated, 119 Minutes
D: Sanjay Gupta
W: Robin Bhatt, Sanjay Gupta
Genre: Pilot
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Rape victims in India
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Rapists
♪ Parody inspired by “Rock the Casbah”
