With backdrop of water scarcity in Rann of Kutch, Jal tells a complex and intriguing story of love, relationships, enmity, deceit and circumstances that bring about the dark side of human character. Jal movie review…
It is a high-octane, action- drama with a shocking climax. Shot on an epic scale, the film is a visual treat and has managed to capture ‘Rann Of Kutch’ like never before.
Set in the Rann of Kutch, in Gujarat in Western India, the story of Jal revolves round a water diviner named Bakka (Purab H. Kohli), who tries to solve the drought problems in his village. Bakka has the sixth sense to detect water in the parched desert. Yet he faces unforeseen circumstances when he tries to help a female ornithologist Kim (Saidah Jules) to save the flamingos.
Bakka is blessed with the ability of finding water in the parched desert. The film revolves around the drama surrounding the scarcity of water, its importance and how it affects the lives of locals.
Right from the opening sequence, a gang of women attack a foreigner when she drinks water from a well of an enemy village.
The sprawling Rann Of Kutch forms a perfect canvas to tell a story about how quintessential water is for the people there.
Due to salinity in the water there, the number of flamingos (migratory birds) start dwindling as more of them are dying in the region. Kim (Saidah Jules) comes there to closely study the life of flamingos. Her latest technology doesn’t seems to work in the area and therefore her team takes a chance to implement Bakka’s ‘divine’ methodology of finding water, which miraculously works.
Overnight, Bakka becomes a star. He gets a government job and gets to marry the girl of his choice, Kesar (Kirti Kulhari). He is overwhelmed.
After some time, it eventually falls on Bakka to detect the presence of water and this time there is no team of foreigners, nor the support of their technological instruments / methodology. Jal ends with an unexpected series of events.
For the first time, Sonu Nigam has composed the music of a film and it is impressive! He is assisted by the ace tabla player / percussionist Bickram Ghosh. The first attempt of this duo who is also responsible for its incredible background score has met with immense critical acclaim, though it may not be a commercial success.
Shubha Mudgal renders the title song, which has an unique composition, for which Sonu and Bickram have used ragas like Marwa and Puriya combined with rare musical instruments like the Armenian Duduk.
Kirti Kulhari appears seductive as Bakka’s love interest but isn’t impressive with her Haryanvi accent and doesn’t pass off as a localite of the desert in Gujarat. Tanishtha Chatterjee is a fine actor in the character of Kajri who has hidden love for Bakka.
Purab H. Kohli has come up with realistic and impressive portrayal of Bakka. He gets into his character with realistic
mannerisms and portrayal, which probably is the finest performance of his life.
With its enthralling cinematography, the film Jal begins with a gripping drama, which seems over stretched towards the end. Jal is a high-octane, action – drama with a shocking climax of a young water diviner, the gifted one with a special ability to find water in the desert.
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Cast of Jal:
Purab H. Kohli as Bakka (Jal ka Devta)
Tannishtha Chatterjee as Kajri (Devta ki jogan)
Kirti Kulhari as Kesar (Jal ki Rani)
Yashpal Sharma as Ram Khiladi (Shrewd and Cunning)
Mukul Dev as Punya (Jal ka dushman)
Saidah Jules as Kim
Ravi Gossain as Rakla (Bakka’s friend)
Habib Azmi
Credits of Jal:
Banner – Oneworld Films, Clapstem Productions,
Directed by Girish Malik
Produced by Puneet Singh, Girish Malik, Sumit Kapoor, Yogesh Mittal
Screenplay by Girish Malik, Rakesh Mishra
Story by Rakesh Mishra
Music by Sonu Nigam, Bickram Ghosh
Cinematography Sunita Radia
Jal – hindi movie, review