Review: No One Killed Jessica

Verdict: Powerful and moving

"K" Rating: 4

Watch: DVD/Theater

There are very few movies made in recent times like No One Killed Jessica (NOKJ) which are so powerful, gut-wrenching and hard hitting. This docu-drama is based on the landmark case of Jessica Lall murder in a Delhi nightclub. The title is inspired by a 2006 Times of India headline when all the accused were acquitted. Director Gupta personifies the critical role the media played, in the resulting public outcry which led to the retrial and eventual conviction of the accused via the fictional journalist Meera Gaity.He has done an excellent job of reconstructing the years 1999 & 2006 onscreen via the Kargil war, Hijacking of AI 814 flight and a girl getting inspired by the movie Rang De Basant in 2006 to do a candle light march. This murder, remains etched  in a lot of Delhiits hearts and minds forever. For a very long time, Delhi nightclubs were deemed unsafe after this event.

Vidya Balan is excellent as Jessica's sister Sabrina, the middle class girl with restrained emotion in her quest for justice. Rani Mukherjee is stupendous as the career oriented, foul-mouthed, feisty/ "bitchy" journalist Meera Gaity. The entire casting of the film is very apt and very true to its real life characters. The defence lawyer who essays the role of the famous Ram Jethmalani is top-notch. NOKJ has a riveting screenplay and the background score by Amit Trivedi definitely adds to the impact. The film makes one feel angry,sad, frustrated and bitter about the umpteen flaws in our judiciary.  Yet also gives hope for justice even when dealing with powerful culprits. The dialogue "Justice has been denied, you can live with it, I will not" serves as a wakeup call for not taking injustice as a way of life.

We should be proud of our film industry for bringing on celluloid such an important event with such sensibility and accuracy.Business wise, the film will do excellent with word of mouth publicity in multiplexes/metros, it might be slow on the single screen theaters. 

It is an inspiring film based on true events which everyone must see.