Maya Menon (Vidya Balan) is a celebrity TV journalist, successful for her fearless and headstrong nature. She lives with her mother, Rukmini (Rohini Hattangadi), and her son Ayush, who is autistic and recovering from surgery. One late night, while driving back home from a party, Maya accidentally hits a young girl and stops. After a little deliberation, she decides to leave the girl to her fate and drive back home.
Ruksana (Shefali Shah) is Maya's house help who cooks the world's best food and is immensely close to Ayush as his caregiver. Her life is suddenly shaken up as she was summoned by the police to inform her of her daughter Alia, having met with a horrific accident and being hospitalised. Ruksana and her family are devastated to see the bundle of life, having been reduced to immobility. Maya decides to step in and help Ruksana, shifting Alia to a private hospital with the best facilities, but not without a reason. She faces a huge conflict mentally, something that threatens to alter her nature. Rohini (Vidhatri Bandi), a young journalist from Maya's team, is investigating the accident. She is determined to uncover the truth as she idolises Maya but is perplexed to find that the local police is trying to hush up the entire affair, even without having conducted the basic investigation. Jalsa explores the event and its aftermath when the truth is revealed and repercussions thereof. Will it be an eye for an eye in the end?
Directed by Suresh Triveni, Jalsa is a simple story of a hit and run that alters many lives. It is marked by some superlative acting by Vidya Balan, who demonstrates her inner conflict through its external manifestations stunningly. Shefali Shah brings home a poignant display of a number of emotional conflicts, especially the one when she discovers the truth. Jalsa is a celebration of histrionics at its very best, but even with its running time of 127 minutes, it is slower than it needed to be. Yet, the sensitive handling of the subject and characters associated with it, combined with the possibilities of the climax when the truth surfaces are enough to keep the viewer experience intact.
Ruksana (Shefali Shah) is Maya's house help who cooks the world's best food and is immensely close to Ayush as his caregiver. Her life is suddenly shaken up as she was summoned by the police to inform her of her daughter Alia, having met with a horrific accident and being hospitalised. Ruksana and her family are devastated to see the bundle of life, having been reduced to immobility. Maya decides to step in and help Ruksana, shifting Alia to a private hospital with the best facilities, but not without a reason. She faces a huge conflict mentally, something that threatens to alter her nature. Rohini (Vidhatri Bandi), a young journalist from Maya's team, is investigating the accident. She is determined to uncover the truth as she idolises Maya but is perplexed to find that the local police is trying to hush up the entire affair, even without having conducted the basic investigation. Jalsa explores the event and its aftermath when the truth is revealed and repercussions thereof. Will it be an eye for an eye in the end?
Directed by Suresh Triveni, Jalsa is a simple story of a hit and run that alters many lives. It is marked by some superlative acting by Vidya Balan, who demonstrates her inner conflict through its external manifestations stunningly. Shefali Shah brings home a poignant display of a number of emotional conflicts, especially the one when she discovers the truth. Jalsa is a celebration of histrionics at its very best, but even with its running time of 127 minutes, it is slower than it needed to be. Yet, the sensitive handling of the subject and characters associated with it, combined with the possibilities of the climax when the truth surfaces are enough to keep the viewer experience intact.