Jazbaa (Arabic)
Director: Sanjay Gupta
Starring: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Irrfan Khan, Shabana Azmi
Two stars
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is back with Jazbaa. Her first film since 2010's Guzaarish – after which she went on hiatus to enjoy motherhood – is not only big news in India. The 41-year-old's global appeal extends way beyond her native shores; Jazbaa was dubbed in Arabic and was released simultaneously with the original Hindi version. As well as filling up the cineplexes in the UAE, the film was also screened across the GCC, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan and Iraq.
Translated in Arabic to the rather dull title Shagaf (which literally means jazbaa in Hindi, which in turn denotes passion in English), the Arabic dubbing was well produced and did a fine job in relaying the tension and melodrama of the plot. Following the present industry trend, Jazbaa was dubbed in the Lebanese dialect, which at the moment is preferred for foreign dramas and thrillers.
You can hear why. The dialect is chatty, colourful and rhythmic and is tailor made for Jazbaa's script full of indignant monologues and frequent denunciations. Aishwarya, who plays the indomitable lawyer Anuradha Verma, was sympathetically portrayed. With her character forced to defend a dangerous criminal in return for the release of her kidnapped daughter, Aishwarya's voice constantly veered from steely determination to on the verge of tears. Co-star Irrfan Khan, who plays the hard boiled detective Yohan, was given a deep terse tone – you can imagine the voice belonging to that person you encounter at a shisha cafe who just wants to be left alone.
No matter what language its dubbed in, the fast paced Jazbaa is entertaining but no where near as compelling as it should have been. While it's great to see Aishwarya back on screen, you still get the impression she is a more natural presence on a red carpet than the silver screen. A lot of the blame goes to director Sanjay Gupta, so enamoured his camera was by Aishwarya's looks – with plenty of slow motion and lingering shot of those startling eyes and blowing hair – that the film at times resembled an extended beauty advertisement.
It was Irrfan who gave the film some sense of grounding. His committed portrayal of the perpetually bleary eyed Yohan, whose investigative techniques are morally ambiguous at best, is Jazbaa's strongest point. It was only through his brooding presence that Jazbaa was rescued from being unconscionably melodramatic to a standard escapist experience.