No One Killed Jessica to solve a murder mystery
The story encapsulates incidents related to murder, Sabrina and Meera’s relentless struggle in pursuit for justice.
NEW DEHLI:
No One Killed Jessica features Vidya Balan as Jessica’s sister Sabrina while Rani Mukerji plays a journalist named Meera Gaiety who feels passionately about the case.
The story will encapsulate incidents related to the murder and Sabrina and Meera’s relentless struggle in their pursuit for justice for Jessica.
Jessica, a model who also worked as a bartender, was shot dead on April 29, 1999, by Manu Sharma, son of former union minister Venod Sharma, after she refused to serve him a drink at a party organised at designer-socialite Bina Ramani’s night bar Tamarind Court in the capital. However, due to the lack of evidence, the nine accused were acquitted by the trial court in February 2006. In March 2006, Delhi Police filed appeal in the high court and in December Manu, Vikas Yadav and Amardeep were convicted. In April 2010, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction and life term of Manu.
Gupta clarified the film is neither a biography of any person nor a documentary. He describes it as a mix of fact and fiction. The filmmaker sat with Sabrina for hours to get the facts right and she feels that the director has done justice with the film and handled the subject sensitively.
In the film, Mukerji will be seen in a rather bold avatar, where she smokes cigarettes and hurls abuses. Another area of discomfort for the film was the legal ramifications of showing real-life people, particularly the hostile witnesses in the murder case.
In fact, former cop Amod Kanth, who was joint commissioner of police at the time the ramp model was shot dead, wrote a letter to the censor board urging it to ensure all the facts are presented correctly.
In the promos they had beeped out all the expletives used by Mukerji. The censor board awarded an A-certificate to No One Killed Jessica without any cuts and its makers hailed the decision saying they were happy to be able to take the story to the audience.
Though the film has got an A certificate, chances are that it will lure audiences as it is based on one of the most talked about murder cases in India and there will be many who would be curious to know exactly what happened on the fatal night and how Sabrina finally managed to get justice. While Indian fans brace themselves for the murder mystery to unfold, No One Killed Jessica also releases nationwide in Pakistan on Friday. IANS
Afterword
Rani Mukerji
When I was approached for this role, I was told that when the case was going on, there were a lot of reporters who pursued it actively. My character is an amalgamation of all of them. It would have been unfair to model the character on one person. So, I played it how I thought the character would be. Also I have taken bits from reporters I have met in so many years. I incorporated inputs from my observation.
Vidya Balan
I have never thought how inspirational this film could be for viewers. If it happens, great! We did not set out to make the film for that purpose. What really inspired us was the spirit of Sabrina... spirit of all those people who played a role in the case. Rajkumar Gupta wanted me to chart out an emotional journey of Sabrina on my own. She was kind enough to go through our script and give her consent to our film. Sabrina’s emotional journey is the core of the film. It’s a feature film- it is about stirring people’s emotions.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 7th, 2011.
No One Killed Jessica features Vidya Balan as Jessica’s sister Sabrina while Rani Mukerji plays a journalist named Meera Gaiety who feels passionately about the case.
The story will encapsulate incidents related to the murder and Sabrina and Meera’s relentless struggle in their pursuit for justice for Jessica.
Jessica, a model who also worked as a bartender, was shot dead on April 29, 1999, by Manu Sharma, son of former union minister Venod Sharma, after she refused to serve him a drink at a party organised at designer-socialite Bina Ramani’s night bar Tamarind Court in the capital. However, due to the lack of evidence, the nine accused were acquitted by the trial court in February 2006. In March 2006, Delhi Police filed appeal in the high court and in December Manu, Vikas Yadav and Amardeep were convicted. In April 2010, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction and life term of Manu.
Gupta clarified the film is neither a biography of any person nor a documentary. He describes it as a mix of fact and fiction. The filmmaker sat with Sabrina for hours to get the facts right and she feels that the director has done justice with the film and handled the subject sensitively.
In the film, Mukerji will be seen in a rather bold avatar, where she smokes cigarettes and hurls abuses. Another area of discomfort for the film was the legal ramifications of showing real-life people, particularly the hostile witnesses in the murder case.
In fact, former cop Amod Kanth, who was joint commissioner of police at the time the ramp model was shot dead, wrote a letter to the censor board urging it to ensure all the facts are presented correctly.
In the promos they had beeped out all the expletives used by Mukerji. The censor board awarded an A-certificate to No One Killed Jessica without any cuts and its makers hailed the decision saying they were happy to be able to take the story to the audience.
Though the film has got an A certificate, chances are that it will lure audiences as it is based on one of the most talked about murder cases in India and there will be many who would be curious to know exactly what happened on the fatal night and how Sabrina finally managed to get justice. While Indian fans brace themselves for the murder mystery to unfold, No One Killed Jessica also releases nationwide in Pakistan on Friday. IANS
Afterword
Rani Mukerji
When I was approached for this role, I was told that when the case was going on, there were a lot of reporters who pursued it actively. My character is an amalgamation of all of them. It would have been unfair to model the character on one person. So, I played it how I thought the character would be. Also I have taken bits from reporters I have met in so many years. I incorporated inputs from my observation.
Vidya Balan
I have never thought how inspirational this film could be for viewers. If it happens, great! We did not set out to make the film for that purpose. What really inspired us was the spirit of Sabrina... spirit of all those people who played a role in the case. Rajkumar Gupta wanted me to chart out an emotional journey of Sabrina on my own. She was kind enough to go through our script and give her consent to our film. Sabrina’s emotional journey is the core of the film. It’s a feature film- it is about stirring people’s emotions.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 7th, 2011.