The distractingly gorgeous Aishwarya Rai Bachchan plays a top-notch lawyer whose daughter is held hostage on a rather strange ransom. The kidnapper wants a man accused of rape and murder to be out of prison. And nobody other than advocate Anuradha Verma, as her character is called, can ensure that. After all, she's known to save the criminally insane from ending up at the gallows. Assisting her is top cop Yohan, played by Irrfan, who mouths some ridiculously hilarious one-liners with the frequency of a Virar local at peak hours.
The two technically come from the opposite sides of the spectrum, but their trajectories overlap due to a shared intention as the film throws them in dilemmas governed by the heart and the mind. Irrfan's actions are driven more by his one-sided love for Aishwarya's character, while hers come out of concern for her daughter. Both are lonely people who find each other to hold on and Gupta handles their slender relationship with remarkable ease. The final scene between them is terrific with a natural chemistry that is bound to leave you smiling. Never does the equation go into the excessively melodramatic category, but the simmering tensions are for all to observe.
The relationship itself is incidental and never drives the plot - that honour reserved solely for the curious case of the creepy rapist (Chandan Roy Sanyal) and the powers working to set him free. The film has a distinct tone giving Mumbai a modern-day noir vibe, while the camera moves hurriedly with a restlessly frantic pace. This ensures that there is never a boring moment and the film consistently engages you. Barring a few over-the-top scenes, it remains tonally sound and evenly performed.
Whether it is Atul Kulkarni as the public prosecutor or Jackie Shroff as the scheming politician, what works in Gupta's favour is that he's cast some phenomenal actors even in minuscule parts, which makes the film rise above mediocrity.
Aishwarya digs into her meaty role as if she was starving for a character like this all these years. Her striking face shows a vast range of expressions and you experience her anguish, helplessness and frustration with a committed participation. She appears confident and involved and the more time you spend looking at her, the more you realise how much you've missed her on-screen.
Irrfan seems to be reduced to a sidekick. Though he has enough screen time, he only supplements the proceedings rather than adding to it. The sharp actor that he is, the role looks like he could sleepwalk through it and still pick up a lot of awards. His eyes reflect emotional turmoil and physical exhaustion in equal measures. His frequent pearls of wisdom, full of pop-philosophy that shouldn't feature anywhere else but on WhatsApp forwards, are a lot of fun to watch. For some odd reason, Shabana Azmi's part looks forceful as it doesn't ring natural and as organic as we're used to seeing her.
Sanjay Gupta's direction could be more competent as he compromises straightforward storytelling in favour of style. The writing could've achieved a lot more by being less dramatic. A lot of portions are simply expository and required some toning down.
The film has an underlying message and the big reveal at the end is actually worth watching and waiting for. If you haven't seen Seven Days, it will catch you completely off-guard and that in itself is worth the price of the admission ticket.
In a world of instant gratification, genuine surprises and satisfying twists are increasingly rare. For those thrills, Jazbaa will leave you pleased.
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