Jalsa

Jalsa on Amazon prime , directed by Suresh Triveni makes you think a bit. Maya Menon( Vidya Balan), a celebrity journalist, runs over a teenager who runs in front of her car past midnight. Stuck by panic, fear and confusion she flees from the spot. 

Maya later realises that the girl is daughter of her cook Rukhsana( Shefali shah), who is very close to her disabled son. Maya arranges for the best treatment for the girl, but  is tormented by guilt, fear and remorse.

Ruksana's grief turns to anger when she finds out who is responsible for her daughter's accident. 

Moral conflicts of various characters are palpable. Morality is something which  always weighs lighter in personal contexts, even for someone like Maya who laments about facing and exposing truth. But then, the inner torments are something which vary according to the structures of super ego( a Freudian construct where moral values are stored). The stronger the super ego, the stronger the internal conflicts. 

As usual, Vidya and Shefali are superb. The anguish of both women are portrayed effectively with minimum dialogues.

It's a pleasure to see Rohini Hattangadi ( Maya's mother) on the screen after a long time. I loved the powerful femininity  the movie emanates. Surya Kasibhatla as Maya's disabled son did extremely well.  Altogether Jalsa is an aesthetically crafted  movie and  a worthy watch.

Preetha Raj