00:00I know there's nothing called a perfect crime and something tells me there's nothing called a
00:04perfect crime movie either so therefore I think you should just give this movie a stab. I know
00:10the grisly nature of the movie might be off-putting at times but otherwise it's an entertaining film.
00:19This is Manjusha Radhakrishnan from Gulf News. I'm the entertainment editor.
00:23This is my review of the movie Jaane Jaan. It's called Suspect X in this region starring a host
00:32of great talents including Kareena Kapoor Khan, Jaydeep Ahlawat and Vijay Verma. This murder
00:38mystery is directed by Sujoy Ghosh. It's out on Netflix now and it's Kareena Kapoor's streaming
00:46debut. Now here is what I loved about the film. Now we all know that we live in an age of distraction.
00:52If we can watch a movie uninterrupted on our computer or perhaps on our television and it's
00:58streaming without looking at our phones or not looking at our insta reels then I think the movie
01:03is not a shabby one. That's the yardstick I really use to gauge how good this movie is. It's based on
01:10a novel by a Japanese author. It's called The Devotion of Suspect X and we are introduced into
01:18the world of single mother called Maya D'Souza played brilliantly by Kareena Kapoor Khan. The
01:24movie directed by Sujoy Ghosh is set in Kalimpong. It's very very there's a lot of mystery attached
01:29to the hilly town. It's winter and you can see a sense of doom that envelops the entire region.
01:36In fact it's an atmospheric psychological thriller and what we know so far is that Maya D'Souza is a
01:42single mother. She's living an idyllic life almost with her teenage daughter but things
01:48change drastically when her estranged husband enters the scene. Series of events including a
01:53murder cover-up unravels and our Maya D'Souza finds a very unlikely comrade in this entire fiasco.
02:01There's a gruesome crime and her neighbor and mathematical teacher who's a genius says he will
02:07provide her watertight alibis so that she can lead a free life and somehow escape being caught
02:14by the police. But the cop who comes to investigate is this mathematical genius Naren Vyas's classmate
02:20played brilliantly again by Vijay Varma. What works for this movie is not the plot twist. Some are very
02:27predictable. Some will even remind you of the movie Drishyam. So you know what is going to come.
02:32What makes this movie captivating is the entire collective performances by the lead cast. If you
02:38look at Vijay Varma he does not have a very defined role as a cop. He plays this rakish cop who's very
02:44good looking flirts slightly with the prime suspect played by Kareena Kapoor. But what makes this movie
02:50work is that they breathe life into these characters. Even Kareena Kapoor she wears her age
02:56you know like a badge of honor and that's not something that all movie actresses do
03:03especially in Bollywood. She does not wear a hint of makeup just apart from her cold lined eyes.
03:08She wears all these scars on her face and there is this aching vulnerability about her that really
03:14touched our hearts. One who stole the show was actor Jayati Balawat who excelled in the role as
03:19this tortured genius. There's a scene that's particularly aching actually in its way it's
03:25performed. If you look at it there's a scene where he breaks down when he realizes he may not
03:30perhaps be the greatest mathematical genius of all times or perhaps he may not get the girl of his
03:36desire or dreams. That particular scene is etched in vulnerability and I think that's the best parts
03:43about this movie is that you see all the characters in different shades of grey. They are not perfect
03:49perhaps they they are also sometimes morally bankrupt and that works. However one of the
03:54downsides of this film is that although the themes of physical abuse, lack of agency in a woman,
04:02obsession is all explored. It's all done at a very superficial level. I wish director Sujoy
04:07Ghosh had done a better job of delving a bit deeper so that he gives us a more intense film
04:13that could have explored all these darker themes. He had a great script in his hand somewhere.
04:19There were times when you thought it was lost in translation. I know there's nothing called a
04:23perfect crime and something tells me there's nothing called a perfect crime movie either.
04:29So therefore I think you should just give this movie a stab. I know the grisly nature of the
04:33movie might be off-putting at times but otherwise it's it's it's an entertaining film. Don't think
04:39too much about it. Just go with the flow and perhaps just revel in some good actors and an
04:45engaging plot being played out on the big screen. I've gone with three out of five. For my full
04:51review go to gulfnews.com
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