In one of those rare instances, I knew the storyline, the climax, and the characters before I comforted myself into the not-so-comfortable seat at the Cinema.
Jessica, Sabrina, the murderer, the news channel, they were all there, but the inner conscience kept nagging "something is missing"! And this is the same question I had in mind when Jessica (Myra
Rajkumar Gupta has a plot very strong, but the awkward bulges hamper the otherwise fast-paced storyline. The movie begins with the voice-over narration by Rani Mukherjee, who plays the foul-mouthed journalist Meera. From Kargil, Gupta brings the attention to Delhi
The movie pokes a finger at the dirty side of the political and judiciary system of the country, so are the numerous other Indian movies. The only upside NOKJ has is that it revolves around a half-real, half-fiction plot!
Though Rani has a role very powerful, it is quite hard to ignore the hackneyed traits of her acting. In some of the scenes like Meera making rude remarks (surprisingly not been muted) at her fellow passenger, an intimate scene with God knows who, it is hard to ignore the artificiality, and the Director's attempt to squeeze in awkward situations to establish her character.
Glitch:
Meera insists her fellow journalist Aditi to be alert 24/7, yet she has to rely on newspapers to read the breaking news!
It is indeed Sabrina (played by Vidya Balan) who gets a day in the sun. She is not seen dressed up to the nines, and her beauty is often submerged in shabby attires. The murder, trial and verdict is a circus of 8 years, and all these years Sabrina is seen reusing the same t-shirts and jackets. We agree that Sabrina is least fashion conscious, but we wonder how does a broadway t-shirt last for over 8 years.
Yet Vidya Balan pays tribute to Sabrina. With her fierceness in the fight for justice to her numbness to the hard-realties of life, Sabrina pulls a chair and sits pretty as a member of the family. The character is so highly emphasized that she takes the audience by surprise and make them laugh with her at her unexpected giggle in an otherwise tensed courtroom scene.
The culprit's mother is a recipe gone wrong. She manages to bring in some laughter when she says "Kuch be karo, mere Monu ko kuch nahi hona chahiye" the first time, but also cooks up some frown when she makes this a routine. The director reveals his bad sense of humor with this desperate mother.
Rajesh Sharma, as the investigating officer, deserves some accolade for his natural performance. While rest of the characters fade away with their blank expressions…
Forget expectations, forget action-packed sequences, forget foot-tapping background scores, forget edge-of-the-seat moments, forget suspense, forget thrills, expect the expected and you are ready for the No One Killed Jessica party!
Post movie:
Only thing that lingers is the taste of shavarma, I wolfed down, and the dark-spots I spotted on Rani's face.
