‘Jalsa’ literally translates to the celebration. In this movie, it stands as a metaphor for the celebration of inner conflicts. The movie revolves around two strong female characters who celebrate their womanhood and motherhood amidst growing tension and challenges. The director, Suresh Triveni must take the credit for placing the characters extremely well, interlinking their backstories and portraying power and corruption conflicting with conscience in a way that feels real.
The movie breaks the stereotype concept of feminists. Mothers are feminists who have their own way to break the shackles of patriarchy and stand strong for their children. They are protective, yet they have their own breakdown.
Shefali Shah and Vidya Balan are two working women who are from two different sections of society, yet they have endless similarities. Their motherhood connects them. Shah works as a house help in the famous online journalist Balan’s home and is like a foster mother to her son Ayush. Shah aka Ruksana is nothing less than a family member to him and bears all his tantrums lovingly. Ayush loves her unconditionally and Vidya trusts her with her household.
Vidya is a self-righteous, ethical journalist who never fails to speak the truth in her personal and professional life. She has strong moral conduct and this is another similarity she has with Shah. On a weary night, she was driving back home and mistakenly hit over a girl who happened to be Ruksana’s daughter, Alia. She wanted to help because it was a genuine mistake but fear succumbed to her and she came back home without doing anything. She started getting panic attacks and couldn’t bear the guilt. She had blood in her hand and couldn’t face Ruksana. The suspense here bends and takes twists and turns with changing dynamics of relationships and emotional breakdowns of characters.
In the end, Ruksana learns the truth and takes Ayush away to the beach. Vidya reaches hurriedly and is relieved to see him safe. Shah couldn’t bear the fact that Vidya did this to her who has been so supportive throughout. But she understood her point of view and conscience. Ruksana’s morality doesn’t let her harm Ayush.
Vidya aka Maya and Ruksana are honest. Maya couldn’t bear the fact that she was hiding such a huge truth from a close acquaintance and self-guilt was eating her up. She confesses everything to her trainee Rohini who wants to work on that story.
Ruksana’s honesty lies in the fact that she returned the money back to Vidya even when she knew the truth. Although she never knew that it wasn’t Vidya who offered her the money and played dirty.
In the entire movie, it was Rohini who knew all sides of the story and could tell who’s the actual culprit. However, one never came to know if she worked on the story and made it go live or not. The audience is left with many questions at every stage of the movie that can have both yes or no as answers. Inner conflict has a huge role in every question that’s left unanswered.
‘Jalsa’ is a heart-wrenching movie. It is raw and captivating with complexity. The movie is so weaved that the 120-minute screen time is not only engaging but intense. Guilt, self-reflection and realisations occupy minds throughout. Stuffed with pain and anger the protagonists find their way out to peace. There is chaos and deafening silence together cleverly entwined to show a vulnerable side of humans.
The film is high on aesthetics. Be it background score or cinematography, there is no way to criticize this film. It’s a work of art. But here again, this movie is hardly for the masses. Unlike Triveni’s last movie with Balan ‘Tumhari Sulu’ (2017), this movie is not for everyone.
There is a lot of blue used in the film, be it roaring waves or lonely skies depicting the loneliness and frustration of the protagonists. Shefali Shah and Vidya Balan did a fabulous job as actors. The climax is not just overwhelming, it’s relieving.
‘Jalsa’ is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Videos.
Rating: 4.5/5
