Jal
04/Apr/2014

2.50

mainstream cinema peddles nonsense, this is a step in the other direction

Jal is about the acute water crisis in arid Kutch, and the administrational apathy towards its inhabitants. The film, then, could have made for powerful satire, or a moving story of human suffering. It tries to be the latter, but is riddled with so many flaws � of structure, editing and direction � that it fails to leave any major impact. The film moves in a jarringly episodic manner. At the start, a semi-relevant story of flamingo conservation in the Rann hogs the focus. This allows for strikingly beautiful frames, but at halfway point, this story thread is completely abandoned - (more)

Source: Sarit Ray,, Hindustan Times

4.00

Jal is a work of remarkable resonance

It's a never-before experience. Tapestried and tempestuous, the tides of Girish Malik's narrative rise and swell like the frequent sandstorms in the desertscape that Sunita Radia's camera captures so evocatively in this saga of raging ragas. There is more than just a little bit of Shakespeare in Girish Malik's debut as a director. Jal leaves you with many fluttering strands of thought swimming in the tormented tides of humanity's most deprived and financially challenged part of civilization where drinking water is more precious than gold.(more)

Source: Subhash K Jha,, IANS

1.00

Plot is overcooked, spilling over with too many threads

The film is well shot but ends up looking like an advert for Kutchhi landscapes and costumes. The plot is overcooked, spilling over with too many threads. There�s Bakka and his romance with a �dusman gaon wali gori� Kesar ( Kulhari), who is lusted after by a local Romeo ( Dev). There�s the thwarted belle Kajri ( Chatterjee). For a film of this kind, there�s a lot of skin on show, as we are treated to Kohli and Kulhari getting all hot and heavy. There�s also cringe-making sexual violence.(more)

Source: Shubhra Gupta , Indian Express

0.50

Jal is a bore

Girish Malik's directorial debut surely has a good heart but it forgets that subtle difference between a PowerPoint presentation and a film, as it documents survival in the water-scarce Rann of Kutch. Bakka (Purab Kohli), a young man who calls himself the God of Water, is a water diviner who is in love with Kesar (Kirti Kulhari), the daughter of the chieftain of the enemy tribe. The film follows his rise and fall from paani ka devta to an outcast. Add to this a couple of foreign ornithologists who seek to help the flamingos that migrate to the Rann of Kutch by providing them with fresh water.(more)

Source: Paloma Sharma., Rediff.com

3.50

Jal is a little more than dry and barren

Girish Malik's film 'Jal' tells the story of a dry land, and an attempt to get water back to it. But here in the Great Rann of Kutch water's not the only thing being scoped out. It's a story of people and how their lives are weaved together. Watch the movie if such 'experimental' movies interest you, or any new kind of cinema. In case pure entertainment is your drug, skip this one. The story opens with a small village in Kutch. A young orphan boy called Bakka lives here in his friend Rakala and his sister Kajri's house. He is the who tries to find out where they dig to find water. The neighbouring village, on the other hand, is well off in that sense, and also because it houses the village head's daughter Kesar, for whom Bakka has a liking. (more)

Source: Shubhra Dwivedi, India Today