Adding JAI to the title of his earlier 2003 hit GANGAAJAL, writer-director Prakash Jha is back with his same old template of clashes between the corrupt politicians, their goons and the police officers of the region, but with a minor change and freshness. This time, the brutal acid blindings get replaced by the ‘farmer suicides’, the macho police officer makes way for a tough lady SP and above all, the director himself plays the key role of police officer going through a positive transformation with a pleasing confidence and ease.
However, repeating his own shortcomings of the past, once again Jha gives us a film that despite having the usual stereotyped drama, still holds well giving us something to applaud in its first half, but goes horribly wrong in the second focusing on highly unconvincing events and execution heading towards the same predictable ending. The film is also painfully long offering all seen before content and it’s only the key performances that keep you engaged particularly in the first half that moves fast with few explosive moments like the opening action sequence of Priyanka, the first revolting scene of Prakash Jha saying ‘Vardi Pe Haath Nahin Uthaana Chahiye Tha’ and then the unexpectedly harsh sequence featuring a kid post intermission.
Having seen the film in a single screen theater, these three scenes get a good favourable response from the audience, but then it soon takes a strange, uninspiring turn mixing the theme of ‘helpless farmers suicides’ with a revenge angle and fast becomes an unimpressive, dragging tale focusing more on Prakash Jha instead of Priyanka Chopra. In other words, the final hour simply ruins the fine buildup made by the first half and the result is yet another jaded attempt from the director that could have been a clear winner with all the essential ingredients of an action packed social, police-drama reminding you of the good old ‘70s.
That being said, JAI GANGAAJAL still has a few merits that don’t let you write-off the film as another lousy sequel (if you may call it) trying to take an advantage of its earlier hit with a similar title.
Firstly it has a strong notable casting led by both Priyanka Chopra and Prakash Jha in their individual portrayals along with Manav Kaul, Ninad Kamat, Murli Sharma and Rahul Bhatt, that actually converts an ordinary looking film into a one-time watch for sure. As expected Priyanka shines bright as the SP doing her duty of clearing the social mess but could have done a lot more if she was given an author backed role in the final hour. On the other hand, Prakash Jha brings in the pleasant surprise and looks quite solid playing the ‘good-hearted’ Police officer having a change of heart. He not only looks great in his slim physique but also acts pretty confidently in front of the camera with a great dialogue delivery that straight away makes an impact.
As a matter of fact, whether it was Jha’s hidden (undisclosed) intention to cast himself as the hero or Priyanka left the project in-between because of some tiff between the two (she didn’t even participate in the promotions), it’s the film that has actually suffered a lot due to the same and its Prakash Jha only who is going to feel the burns much more than Priyanka and the producers as it seems.
Mentioning the second merit of the film, along with a fine camerawork, its regional flavor of the soundtrack comes as a big relief and the songs used in the backdrop gel well with the subject, especially in the action sequences of the first half.
Lastly revealing one ‘sure to be missed’ insertion in its characterization, the script-writers name the known leader of the region as Babloo and his cunning evil younger brother as Dabloo, perfectly mocking the questionable political state of the present times with rhyming Babloo-Dabloo, quite intelligently.
In all, many would be surprised to know that the most enjoyable feature of JAI GANGAAJAL remains the debut performance of its director Prakash Jha himself, practically displaying how he was able to extract path-breaking performances from the talented cast in his earlier gems like HIP HIP HURRAY, DAMUL, MRITYUDAND, RAJNEETI and GANGAAJAL. On a personal note, I would love to see him again in another project soon playing an interesting character, so you can sure watch the film once for the man alone.
Rating : 2.5 / 5
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