No One Killed Jessica (2011): A strong women-centric subject and performances

No One Killed Jessica (Nokj) is a strong women centric commercial Bollywood film. For long I have held a soft spot for Rani Mukherjee and Vidya Balan in my heart when it comes to Bollywood actresses. They are so much different than other plastic faced Barbie-look alike size zero heroines. These 2 actresses seem so comfortable in their skins and different roles. But their recent career decisions and movie choices had shaken up that opinion a lot. It had made me feel that their acting talent too had succumbed to the money making commercial Bollywood masala films. Vidya Balan proved me wrong in Ishqiya but Rani was no where to be found still. But then NOKJ came along and my faith in both d stars as actresses was reaffirmed.

The film is based on the sensitive issue and news of Jessica Lal murder case. Vidya Balan essays the role of Sabrina Lal, Jessica's sister who fights till her last strand of strength to get justice for her sister and to see her murderers behind bars.

Rani Mukherjee plays the role of journalist Meera, who is hard core and crude. Meera refuses to pick the news story of Jessica Lal’s murder as she feels it is an open and shut case and justice will soon be delivered to the Lal family. But still when court after court and session after session it becomes apparent that justice is not just being delayed but also being denied, that is what jolts Meera out of her peaceful belief in the legal system of the country.

She then does everything in her power and with the power of the country’s 4th estate, media, behind her; she is in fact able to garner a large public movement in support of the reopening of Jessica's murder case and see to it that the justice is indeed served.

It is after a long time you see such powerful women protagonist at the forefront of a Bollywood film. Bollywood films are usually driven by male characters; well that is what has been happening in last few decades. NOKJ brings to forefront that it is not the gender of actors that is to be blamed for their stereotypical viewing in cinema. It is rather d characters that are written in a script by the writers; and offered to them by directors and producers.

NOKJ is a powerful and emotional crime-thriller based on a real life situation and most of the characters have drawn inspiration from those real life situations that surrounded the event. But one problem I found was in the pace of the film. For such a lengthy film the pace of the plot fluctuated a lot from too slow to too fast. And yes at times Rani does become too loud, but that fits well with her character as well, I guess.

The film has a lot of subtle and not-so-subtle symbols. Like the scene when Sabrina is walking on the road consumed by her mental thoughts she doesn’t see the approaching elephant. And the smart integrations of Rang De Basanti in the plot, which actually acted as a catalyst in lending a spark of fresh activism in the Jessica Lal murder case.

The film went on to be a huge hit at the box office and was able to garner positive reviews as well, and that most of it was due to the leading ladies of the film. The magic that these talented actresses exude on screen is very captivating. Also the way the narration takes an active turn with number of symbols and a steady movement between past and present.

The film is a sensitive handling of a delicate and controversial issue. It is an exploration of a person's struggle for justice against a corrupt power lobby system. It is a true story, about Sabrina Lal and her struggle for justice for her sister Jessica Lal, who was murder by son of a powerful minister. And what follows is a story of justice being denied at the hands of corrupt officials, sold out witnesses, and well plain simple delay in the country's legal system.

Vidya Balan plays the sensitive soft yet strong character of Sabrina Lal who fights to her last strand of courage to get justice to her sister's murder. And then there is the hard brash and muhfat character of journalist Meera Gaity, played by Rani Mukherjee. Rani did actually go on to win Dadasaheb Phalke Award for her role in the film later on.
Two different women but both want to fight for same thing Justice. One wants to get justice for her dead sister while other wants justice from a dead system.

Even the performance of side characters is quite exemplary. Every actor in the film carried out their roles well be it Rajesh Sharma in the serious role of the inspector in charge of the case, or Neil Bhoopalam as the prime witness of the case who later turns hostile; or Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub who essays the role of Manish Bharadwaj, based on Manu Sharma. And the most remarable is the new comer Myra in the role of Jessica; she sensitively and skillfully fits in the character. The film boosts of a well balanced and well placed cast.

The music and the background score of the film plays a strong role in complementing the plot well. Songs are not something that you feel as being meaninglessly introduced. Every song well accompanies the emotion and sentiment of the plot. I feel the song 'dilli dilli', from this film, is a far better tribute to Delhi than the song 'yeh Delhi hai meri jaan', from the movie Delhi 6. The music composed by Amit Trivedi, is both sharp and edgy.

The dialogues of the film are sharp as well as straight forward, there is nothing flowery or over idealistic about them. Dialogues seem something as if a part of real slice of life.


A taste of film, its subject, characters, music, and dialogues can be experienced through this trailer of the film.

No One Killed Jessica (2011)

Director: Raj Kumar Gupta

Starring: Rani Mukerji, Vidya Balan

Producer: Ronnie Screwvala

Writer: Raj Kumar Gupta

Cinematographer: Anay Goswamy

Editor: Aarti Bajaj

Music Director: Amit Trivedi
Favorite Dialogue: "aggar ek goli aur ek crore mein chunna ho toh aap kya choose kareinge. Mujhe ek crore nahi chaiye, lekin mujhe ek goli bhi nahi chahiye...."; 
Best Song: Dilli Dilli...., Aale re....