Corruption, intolerance, suicides etc are some of the words that we do come across on a daily basis with the media bombarding us with news of this nature across the nation. Numerous movies have focused on these topics with some even being inspired from real life events. One such movie was Prakash Jha's "Gangaajal" which was inspired from the Bhagalpur blinding incident. More than a decade has passed since its release & now we have the sequel "Jai Gangaajal" awaiting its verdict at the box office. Well it's more like a "name-sake" sequel as none of the characters are similar though the situations are. So will it have a similar response from the audience as its prequel???

Abha Mathur (Priyanka Chopra) was assigned charge as SP of Bankipur, a place which was rather infamous for wide spread corruption & violence spearheaded by the ruthless MLA Babloo Pandey (Manav Kaul) & his brother Dabloo Pandey (Ninad Kamat). Their latest agenda was to usurp the land from the farmers to set up a thermal plant & all seemed to progress to plan thanks to the crooked cop BN Singh (Prakash Jha) facilitating their endeavors. However Abha's entry put a spanner to their schemes & seemed to provide a new lease of life to the public. But can she stand up to the might of these rogues especially when her own subordinates were hand in glove with them???

Prakash Jha is known for his movies which takes up topics of relevance of the current political scenario and weaves his craft about it. His latest venture also traces a similar template which however fails to inspire the audience as it doesn't provide anything that we haven't seen from him. However, he springs a major surprise as he effectively plays the protagonist inspite of being understandably packaged as a Priyanka Chopra movie who has significantly lesser screen space than him. Even though the script is trite & tedious to sit through, the performances by the main cast makes it watchable. Apart from the performances, none of the other aspects deserves a special mention.

As mentioned earlier, the protagonist is actually Prakash Jha who I have to admit has done utmost justice to the character. Though not quite of the class of Ajay Devgn, Prakash's expressions & body language kinda reminded me of the former. Equally impressive was Priyanka who apart from her acting abilities was damn good in the action sequences. As for the rest, Manav Kaul also deserves mention for an aptly essayed role.

Verdict: It's kinda expected that the movie wont make the box office go bonkers but I believe it has the capability to do well in the single screens in North India. Well I wont quite recommend the movie as it's kinda boring to be frank except for the performances. So in short, wont hurt to give it a miss!!!

Rating : 2/5

Regards...Ben

Corruption is a malignant act disease which is incurable. There are many corrupts individuals working in our Political system. And they escape the legal umbrella.
Priyanka chopra in ‘Jai Gangaajal’ plays SP Abha mathur who is a righteous able, just law abiding and a vibrant police officer. She is the first female Superintendent of Bankepur District where people underrate the importance of police, corrupt politicians vandalize public properties and decapitate them by hanging to death. SP Abha is supercilious and fights against the plutocratic corrupt politicians. The film also has Director Prakash Jha showing his acting prowess. He makes his appreciative debut with the film. He is Bhola Nath Singh, a corrupt police officer who neglects his duty in order to help the nefarious politicians. He puts up a great act. Priyanka is more than good in her action sequences and portrays her character vigorously. At the end she is able to redeem Bankepur from hooliganism and violence. The music and background score of the film is just lame and vitiates the film much. Some so called ’Desi’ songs are
unnecessarily placed and forces the viewer to go for a short loo break. Mr. Jha is a master, actor, a good story writer and a determined director too. He does everything for his film including acting. But I have many grouses to him regarding his film as of today. His film had a lot of expectations from the audiences and the critics. But fails to entertain the viewers because of the plot. He ameliorates the impact by repetitive references to political themes. As a result, though much was anticipated but Jha fails to gratify. He selected the appropriate villains who emulate well and fit bill. After some time Jha would realise that recurring violence in story may increase the adrenaline level and precipitate it losing its impact. While he is able to hold the viewer’s attention by his perspicuous dialogues and acting. It is good to watch him rather than read it.
Prakash Jha’s ‘Jai Gangaajal’ is an average political treat and is an epitome of political thriller. The movie is a weal for all his fans who are compassionate for his films. It is a mediocre political innuendo. I am giving 4 deserving stars.