Cast: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Irrfan Khan, Shabana Azmi, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Jackie Shroff
Director: Sanjay Gupta
Genre: Thriller
Excerpts from reviews of Sanjay Gupta’s Jazbaa.
Rai Bachchan’s co-star is far more skilled at mugging. Irrfan has made it a habit of playing a hard-bitten cop, but he also has the ability to make the role work each time for him. He munches on Kamlesh Pandey’s entertaining dialogue as though it were a gourmet dish, and walks away with the claps and whistles.
The movie loses momentum after the interval and the contradictions pile up as in a train wreck, but there is always a scorchingly lit corner in a never before-seen shade of yellow or green to gaze upon.
– Nandini Ramnath (Scroll.in)
Even as you anxiously follow Aishwarya’s tense four days in which she has to get the rapist, Miyaaz Shaikh (Chandan Roy Sanyal) out of prison that he’s ensconced in, it is Irrfan who captures your heart and imagination. This fantastic actor is helped by some deadly punchlines dotted with wry humour and at times, a fine poetic touch (dialogues by Robin Bhatt and Kamlesh Pandey) lights up the screen and keeps you delighted, even guffawing at some points.
– Shubha Shetty-Saha (Mid-day.com)
Every time Yohaan (Irrfan Khan) comes on screen (initially surrounded distractingly by some stylish yellow lighting) and mouths some cynical lines in keeping with his corrupt character, the film shows some potential. Unfortunately, Yohaan’s dialoguebaazi has little effect, as his actions cannot match Anuradha’s melodramatic vocal chords.
Several new characters emerge, one of whom is a politician, played by Jackie Shroff. Mercifully, he plays it subtle. By the time, certain twists unfold; you don’t really care if mom and daughter will unite.
All you care about is Aishwarya Rai Bachchan who shows so much sincerity that you wish she had worked with another Sanjay who brought out the best in her in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.
– Gayatri Gauri (Firstpost.com)