JAZBAA (2015) Trailer: Aishwarya Rai’s Hysteric Return To Bollywood

Comebacks are a fluid concept in Bollywood. Some fade from the limelight by choice, others due to compulsion, and almost all attempt a return with varying degrees of success. One A-lister of Bollywood movies from the 90’s and 2000’s returns in a big way next month with a movie that’s unlike any that she’s done till date. While being heralded as a comeback for the actress, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s ‘Jazbaa’ doesn’t seem to be the grand return that  everyone is expecting. Check out the official Trailer below and read on how ‘Jazbaa’ won’t do any favours for Bachchan.

‘Jazbaa’ is yet another Bollwood remake, this time of a South Korean thriller titled ‘Seven Days’. The story is that of a prominent lawyer (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) whose daughter is kidnapped in order to blackmail her into defending a criminal. What follows is a cat and mouse game as the lawyer, along with an investigator (Irfan Khan) try to play the game, while also attempting to get the upper hand and save her daughter’s life. The film looks to be an intense thriller that provides Rai Bachchan a lot of acting moments to stretch out her long dormant skills and talent, such as they are.

It’s been five years since Rai Bachchan’s last film (‘Guzaarish‘,) and seven years since her last successful film (‘Jodha-Akbar‘) both, coincidentally with Hrithik Roshan. The actress’ return has been much hyped since she took a hiatus from acting to focus on her personal life. Rai rose to fame in Bollywood after winning the Miss World competition. Despite becoming an industry darling, and being one of the most sought after actresses in Bollywood even today, the actress has only had a handful of commercial box office successes, and even those are mostly ensemble casts. Even her marriage with Abhishek Bachchan was heavily critisized and she was made out to have gotten the sour end of the deal, despite him having had more hits than her in her entire career.

‘Jazbaa’ is written and directed by Sanjay Gupta (‘Kaante‘, ‘Shootout At Wadala‘) who is known for lifting his stories from films of other industries. ‘Jazbaa‘ is not the first Korean film that Gupta has remade, as he made ‘Zinda‘ in 2002 which was the first remake of South Korean film ‘Oldboy‘. Known for his remakes and stylized films, ‘Jazbaa‘ is dripping with much Gupta-isms. The cinematography is two toned with dusky yellows and greens which is something that’s as much a Gupta trademark as being inspired by other industries. Gupta is unabashedly proud of the look of his films, as they rarely differ from each other. Despite heavy criticism, the director obviously has a style that he keeps to, and more often than not the film’s visuals are better off for it.

This film itself however, looks to have a lot of melodrama and unnecessarily cheesy one liners uttered by an actress who doesn’t have much of the on screen presence to pull them off. While Rai Bachchan’s acting claibre lends better in a romantic drama setting, she looks out of place in a thriller where intensity meets realism, both qualities not inherently apparent within the actress. While Shabana Azmi, Jackie Shroff and Atul Kulkarni round out the rest of the supporting cast, one wonders if more headliners in ‘Jazbaa‘ would have better served to take the pressure off of Rai Bachchan’s shoulders. Irfan Khan is adept in almost any role, and looks to be burdeing some of the load in this movie.

‘Jazbaa‘ may not be the major return to Bollywood cinema that Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is expecting, but hopefully the film will allow the actress to reach beyond her strengths in similar roles outside her comfort zone. 

Would you rather see Aishwarya in her usual glammed Desi girl avatar?

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