Inconsistent but watchable crime drama

Jaane Jaan
Hindi (Netflix)
Director: Sujoy Ghosh
Cast: Jaideep Ahlawat, Kareena Kapoor, and Vijay Varma
Rating: 3/5

I have always been a tad wary of watching a Sujoy Ghosh movie after his ‘Kahaani’ double deception, which was, ultimately, lazy filmmaking. But Jaane Jaan came with big names and a slick promo, and another big incentive was that the film is an official adaptation of Keigo Higashino’s sensational bestseller The Devotion of Suspect X. Higashino, arguably, is Japan’s most popular living crime writer.

Set in moody Kalimpong, the movie begins well with a make-up-free Kareena Kapoor playing Maya D’Souza, a single parent of a teen daughter. She works at a patisserie-restaurant frequented by a mathematics teacher, whom everybody addresses as ‘teacher’ (Jaideep Ahlawat). His obvious crush on her is a reason for much mirth among her colleagues. The teacher and Maya happen to be neighbours. Turns out our maths sir is a peeping Tom of sorts who also religiously attends Jujutsu classes every evening.

One not-so-fine day, Maya’s abusive husband returns, only to be murdered. This is not a whodunnit but a post-murder how-and-why tale. It seeks to be Roald Dahlesque in both its plotting and narration, but fails because certain actions by the teacher not only appear inconsistent with his persona but also point towards logical fallacies. Without giving away too much, the puzzling question is this: If a person is able to dispose of a body without a trace (and thus prevent any murder investigation), what then is the need for creating alibis and changing the murder dates?

Despite its slow pace and plotline problems, Jaane Jaan is still watchable, thanks to strong performances. Jaideep Ahlawat shines as the gentle but eccentric maths teacher, while Kareena in her OTT debut is competent. Vijay Varma plays a flamboyantly clever detective and seems to enjoy being in the ‘hero mode’ for once!