hope its not a case of 'no one' saw 'no one killed jessica!'

My mantra for watching movies:
If it’s a movie which tickles my curiosity, then its ‘first day first show’ – living in the UAE, that’s Thursday, so we get there before the critics!
But most of the time, I respect the star ratings – thanx to caustic reviews, I was saved the agony of watching many duds like “break ke baad” or “khelein hum jee jaan se”!
Then there horrors like “No Problem”, “Mere baap pehle aap”, which have disaster written all over them & in my movie diet (that’s the only one this fatty will ever go on!), fall under the ‘AVOID AT ANY COST” category.
Weirdly, the lukewarm reviews & low star rating for “No one killed Jessica” jaane kyon, didn’t put me off.
This was based on a story of hope, courage & determination, with lots to rage about, but more to rejoice & I wanted to applaud the effort of a film-maker who chose to bring the story to the big screen.
Go past the slightly tacky, filmy interpretation & there was lots of good cinema there …
I remember Jessica’s sister, Sabrina, from all her TV appearances & admiring her courage & composure. Not once did Vidya Balan make you draw comparisons – in a calm, understated & quiet manner, she brings Sabrina to life, with honesty, conviction & more important, heart! From one Palghat Iyer to another, well done, Vidya!
Barkha Dutt may die a few thousand deaths at the crass, over the top, wannabe take on her, by Rani Mukherjee! She smokes, freely uses the F word, delights in describing herself as a bitch … no one may have killed Jessica, but I came close to wanting to kill Rani, or at least shaking her hard & telling her, ‘I know you need a hit real bad, but stop trying so hard!’
But having said that, she still breathes fire into the role of a TV journalist, determined to get justice for Sabrina & has her moments!
The acid test: Did the movie tug at your heart strings? Yes, Sabrina’s emotional reaction to witnessing the turnout for the candle march for Jessica, or the father, going behind his disillusioned daughter’s back & getting the nurse at the hospital to help send the sms to protest about the injustice, made you smile, while you nursed a lump in your throat!
Special mention of the fine portrayal of the good cop, who is no match for the corrupt power play, by the actor whose name I don’t know, but who is one of the key actors in Sony’s ‘CID’ – yeah, yeah, I have seen it, in my defense, while switching channels!
Amit Trivedi – I am excited by his music – some voices which I am curious enough about to do a quick Google search, the music score of this movie tells a beautiful story of its own & reminded me of the passion of “Rang de Basanti!”
Comparisons are odious, but if you remember the director’s debut effort, the brilliant & chilling “Aamir”, then NKJ pales in contrast to that – after telling the story with conviction in the first half, the director suddenly develops ants in his pants & rushes through the latter part – the movie gallops in fast forward mode & with tehelka like sting operations & hard hitting journalism, rushes to a hasty crescendo where public opinion & we the people ensure that the Insaf ka Tarazu tilts positively towards justice!
The murder cases of Nitish Katara, Priya Matoo & the Ruchika suicide cases, also reflect the power of the media who can move the justice system into action. But also sadden you to wonder about the many cases which do not attract media attention, so they remain stories, with bitter, unhappy endings.
Certainly not the best film of the year & yes, could have been handled better, phir bhi, hope this is not a case of ‘No one saw’ ‘No one killed Jessica’! For the price of a ticket, you get a peep into the horrors of corrupt power play, helplessness of the aam janta & that despite all this, the fact that happy endings are possible.