Jazbaa Reviews by Critics

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s comeback film ‘Jazbaa’ has received positive reviews. We will add more reviews on this page shortly.

AVERAGE RATING OF ALL REVIEWS: 2.6

Jazbaa Review by Indicine

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Jazbaa works as a solid, taut, fast paced thriller with its own quirks like green frames and overblown dialogues. Aishwariya Rai Bachchan makes a sincere comeback to movies and does incredibly well to supersede the material she is made to work with. If you are in the mood to not rack your brains too much and yet enjoy a good thriller, then Jazbaa is the right choice for you this weekend. It is appropriate counterprogramming to another one of Irrfan’s films Talvaar which released last week. Give Jazbaa a watch and make the decision for yourself.

Jazbaa Review by Bollywood Hungama

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First things first. The film’s fast, pacy and taut screenplay (Sanjay Gupta and Robin Bhatt) is one of the highlights of the film. Despite the film’s narrative that keeps you glued to your seats, there are a few overdramatic scenes which seem a little out of place in this edgy thriller. A handful of flaws notwithstanding, the film’s director Sanjay Gupta emerges a winner with his much-awaited film JAZBAA. He has tried his level best, with his skillful direction, to uplift even few ordinary sequences. While the film’s first half is above average, it starts lagging towards the interval. Whereas the film’s second half sets the pace of the film (despite a few lagging scenes). JAZBAA is what one would term as an ‘edge-of-the-seat’ thriller. Like every typical ‘Sanjay Gupta film’, JAZBAA too bears the quintessential ‘whistle-worthy’ one-liners and punch-packed dialogues (Sanjay Gupta, Kamlesh Pandey), which is mainly mouthed by Irrfan Khan.

Jazbaa Review by Sarita A Tanwar on DNA India

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Sanjay Gupta is known for his testosterone filled gangster flicks. This time, he steps out of the comfort zone. For starters, the protagonist is the leading lady. But you can see the Gupta touches, the sepia tones, the car chase scenes in Mumbai. grunge locations, the mandatory item song. At its soul, it’s a crime drama, which has a lot working for it. It’s fast-paced, taut and has a run time of two hours, allowing you little time to think.The court-room scenes are brilliant, Aishwarya is in a character that isn’t close to anything she has done before. She looks gorgeous and gutted as the scene requires her to be, but it is the supporting cast of Jazbaa — Irrfan Khan and Shabana Azmi who lift the film several notches above in every scene that they are on the screen. Dialogues by Kamlesh Pandey deserves a special mention. Above all, if you can shock and awe the audience in the end, it’s a win. And that is what makes Jazbaa a satisfying experience.

Jazbaa Review by Meena Iyer on The Times Of India

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Jazbaa’s narrative has pace and power. From screeching car sequences to emotionally-charged showdowns between his accomplished lead cast; the film throbs. Which is not to say that there are no flaws. The green hue overshadows Mumbai’s skyline. Aishwarya is rusty at the start but eventually takes charge of the dual aspects of her character. Once in the groove, her eyes breathe fire. Irrfan breezes past with clap-trap Kamlesh Pandey dialogues, such as –Mohabbat hai is liye jaane de raha hoon, zidd hoti toh baahon mein hoti. Shabana is flawless. Aishwarya has made a judicious screen choice after that five-year hiatus!

Jazbaa Review by Shubha Shetty-Saha on Mid-Day India

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Aishwarya Rai Bachchan perfectly looks the part and even does a fairly decent job, barring certain emotional scenes where she clearly goes over the top. Sanyal’s character is caricaturish. Otherwise a good actor, he seemed to be struggling to find a solid footing. Shabana Azmi, who plays the mother of a rape victim, is effortless and adds value to the film. If only Sanjay Gupta had gone a little easy on the unnecessary and intrusive melodrama. Even then, it’s a good one time watch for sure.

Jazbaa Review by Shishir Gautam on Nowrunning

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A well paced first half later, there is a lot that falls into the second half. The twists should keep on engaged. However Jazbaa should have ended right after the kidnapper is revealed. A couple of forced scenes thereafter take away much of the impact.

Review by Tushar P Joshi on Bollywood Life

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Clearly the film belongs to Aishwarya. She manages to make Anuradha believable from the very first frame. Even though there are moments when she has to amp up the drama quotient, screech, scream, show her theatrics, there is a sense of confidence with which she builds up her character. We relate to her pain not only because she’s lost her daughter, but her constant struggle to suspend the very values and beliefs she upholds is what makes Anuradha endearing. Gupta gives her a canvas where she shows a range that perhaps no other director has been able to capture. If you expect a performance driven film, then Jazbaa doesn’t disappoint. Also the pace doesn’t slacken, knowing what the genre promises, Gupta keeps his script tight. Even the songs come only as momentary fillers, never dampening the effect of the taut storyline. Atul Kulkarni, Shabana Azmi, Jackie Shroff, Irrfan Khan fill up the frame with their strong performances. The casting is superb and therein lies the victory of the film. Also Irrfan and Aishwarya have an impeccable timing, seem totally at ease with each other, never trying to eat into the others scene. Cinematography is stylish capturing and showcasing Mumbai like never before. The camera work and frames have the Sanjay Gupta stamp marked all over them.

Review by Raja Sen on Rediff

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Gupta is a slickly efficient action director, but there aren’t even worthwhile set pieces in Jazbaa. It is a mercifully brief movie, just about two hours long, and goes by briskly enough, but that’s about it in terms of the good part. Nothing is consistent here.

Review by Ananya Bhattacharya on India Today

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The problem with Jazbaa lies in the overdose of melodrama and dialogues that make your ears bleed. The story isn’t really anything to be praised here given that the film is an official remake of the Korean thriller Seven Days. The amount of green that is used in Jazbaa can make anyone crave for anything not-green by the time he or she exits the theatre.

Review by Kusumita Das on Deccan Chronicle

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A film like Jazbaa needs a constant tension in the story and in its characters given the straitjacketed situation they are in. The pace needed to transcend inane car chase sequences and seep into the restlessness of the characters. Gupta had a good story to work with and he lifts up the second half by several notches. But sadly, he gets too caught up in pandering to his Korean cinema fetishes to polish the story. He lands on a punch line every now and then, uses one slide of text in the end to make the film seem like one that is fighting the cause of rape, thereby completely stripping it of any character. He told us how to hold a coffee mug. If only he could hold on to a script as tight. But we guess handle se pakadne se faasla reh hi gaya.

Review by Shubhra Gupta on Indian Express

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And that’s pretty much the case with the film, convoluted and over-plotted, as a whole. Sanjay Gupta’s ability to create menace and a sinister sense of place is overwhelmed by the film’s need to showcase the lead actor. It spills over into the way the solid supporting cast comes off, as characters meant to buoy the central figure around whom the action revolves: Atul Kulkarni as the public prosecutor, Jackie Shroff as an ambitious politico, Chandan Roy Sanyal as the accused. Shabana Azmi, attired in the most gorgeous handloom saris, has an interesting part, and gets in some traction, though. As does, of course, Irrfan, who gets to chase bad guys, throw his fists about, and send a nod and a wink our way.

Review by Saibal Chatterjee on NDTVMovies

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Jazbaa throws up a few such stray moments that allude to the grave distortions in India’s legal system, but the script (Sanjay Gupta and Robin Bhatt) does not follow this narrative line consistently enough. It might have raised Jazbaa above the level of a straightforward thriller.

Review by Pallavi Patra on Zeenews

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Overall, ‘Jazbaa’ is compelling. If it were served like a food, it can be said, it was the meat of a meal with its vintage-like cinematography, pace and drama. And an ensemble that lived up-to its expectation.

Review by Martin D’Souza on Glamsham

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The suspense is taut as Gupta keeps oscillating from the courtroom to the crime scene to establish the motives and alibis of the different characters. What is jarring though is Jackie Shroff’s character as a powerful politician. That aspect is a weak link in this whodunit. Overall, JAZBAA is a well-made film true to its genre. It has a message and it has a motive!

Review by Rohit Vats on Hindustantimes

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Jazbaa is a film which thrives on style and Gupta knows how to present a thriller. Aishwarya Rai and Irrfan will take you to a new territory and then keep you there for most of its 130-minute duration. Jazbaa is a good watch this weekend.

Review by Rachit Gupta on Filmfare

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As the film loses pace, you can see Aishwarya clutching at the straws in an honest attempt to rise above the situation. Her performance as a confident lawyer but vulnerable mother is fantastic. She looks like a million bucks. She even does a bit of good action. She’s particularly good in the scenes she shares with Shabana Azmi. But when the script asks her to be a hysterical mother, the camera and the director do no favours to supplement her efforts. Irrfan who plays a sort of wisecracking dark knight is constantly weighed down by the treatment meted out to his character. Irrfan the actor is in top fom. But his best efforts fall short of selling a horribly flawed character. There are supporting performances by Shabana Azmi, Chandan Roy Sanyal and Jackie Shroff which are all good.

Review by Rajeev Masand on IBNLive

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Gupta moves through his screenplay swiftly, the breakneck pace glossing over many of the script’s holes. In Aishwarya he’s cast a famously earnest star who gives the role all she’s got – at times, though, you’ll wish she gave a little less. It’s a “big” performance, if you know what I mean, all bloodshot eyes, flailing arms, and hysterical wailing. It works in the right places, but sticks out when overdone.

Review by Kunal Guha on Mumbai Mirror

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For being Aishwarya’s muchawaited comeback, this one disappoints. If having her in every frame means giving her that vehicle to strike back, then it does that. But her character sways between being a melodramatic mess of a maa from the 80s (perennially world weary and inconsolably wailing) and a steely and sorted legal professional. The transition between these avatars is swift and she can even manage both in the same scene. While it’s difficult to imagine Irrfan Khan slacking on a job, this film has parts which could qualify as his worst. The least remarkable would be the scene where his character discovers that his close friend’s daughter has been abducted. Kicking bins (carefully positioned by production), he even throws in some punches in the air to convey his irrepressible angst. Things you shouldn’t try at home or in acting school.

Review by Sonia Chopra on Sify

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Despite the story being highly far-fetched, the film is still arresting for its pacy storytelling, actors who perform with conviction, and a few interesting surprises in the finale. Whether it’s the performances, the characters, the motive, or the storytelling-there are traces of jazbaa everywhere. Worth a watch!

Jazbaa Review by Indiaglitz

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Story is over dramatised. A typical Bollywood remake of Korean film ‘Seven Days’. There are over the top emotions. Over dialogues. Overall, a total disappointment. This Sanjay Gupta’s Jazbaa (read emotions) just fizzles out, without lasting fire.

Review by Githa Vanan on Bollyspice

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Remakes are not something new in our industry and this too is a remake of a Korean film. Yet Sanjay Gupta’s everlasting love to extenuate and exacerbate the melodrama is once again at the forefront of this movie. The end result is watching for the sake of watching but not actually connecting with anyone. Jazbaa proves to be emotionless.

Review by Meetu on Wogma

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Exactly like our lead lady’s performance Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. The film opens with showing her fit, in fine form, pretty as ever with a lovely, slightly chubby face that which comes with aging gracefully and being a mommy. The hard work on both her fitness and performance show. Unfortunately, they are both distracting. She is so fit, her back so straight that even the drooping shoulders of a mother whose daughter has been kidnapped looks like a forced slouch – for effect. Her over-powering screen presencedoesn’t cover up for the hard-to-lose model-like gait. As far as those bewildered, supposedly pain-stricken eyes go – no amount of shrieking over one’s lungs can cover the fact that they have been artificially dampened.