No One Killed Jessica

About the film

No One Killed Jessica is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language crime drama film written and directed by Raj Kumar Gupta. It stars Vidya Balan and Rani Mukerji. Based on the Jessica Lal murder case, the film revolves around a bartender who dies after being shot by a politician's son and her sister, Sabirina's struggle to find justice for her death.

Made on a budget of ₹9 crore (US$940,000), No One Killed Jessica was released theatrically on 7 January 2011. The film received widespread critical acclaim for its screenplay and cast performances and emerged as a sleeper hit, grossing ₹45.72 crore (US$4.8 million) approximately in its theatrical run. It was nominated for Best Film, Best Director (Gupta), and Best Actress (Balan) at the 57th Filmfare Awards, where it won Best Supporting Actress (Mukerji).

Plot

Jessica, a bartender at an elite event in New Delhi, refuses to serve three men (Manish, Vishal, and Lucky) alcohol after the last call. Manish, the son of a politician, shoots her in the head in response. There are dozens of eyewitnesses, but as Jessica's sister, Sabrina, discovers, they are either conveniently forgetful or willing to sell their testimony to the highest bidder, leaving an open-and-shut case hostage to greed and political influence.

Manish is taken into custody by the police, and investigations begin. Inspector N. K. informs Sabrina that one of the two bullets that were sent for verification has been replaced. Sabrina's repeated attempts to get the witnesses and evidence in order to prove Jessica's crime fail one by one. The court case runs until 2006. Due to lack of evidence and witnesses, the court acquits the culprits. Sabrina's mother suffers a heart attack due to the trauma caused by the news and dies in the hospital.

Meanwhile, reporter Meera Gaity finds out about the acquittal through a newspaper. Having expected Jessica's case to be an open and shut case, Meera is shocked, takes the matter in her own hands, and plans to get justice for Jessica. With the approval of her editor, she performs various sting operations and exposes the failure of law and order in the country while raising questions about the police and the authorities. N. K. helps Meera by sending her the tape of Manish, where he confesses his crime. Meera uses the clip to publicly exploit the cases and starts to build up pressure on the system and Manish's father's political party.

Production

No One Killed Jessica was Raj Kumar Gupta's second directorial venture after Aamir (2008). Gupta was inspired to address the Jessica Lal murder case for the film after he saw a Times of India's headline about the case, appearing shortly after the accused Manu Sharma released by the court in 2006. The next year, he met Jessica's sister, Sabrina, to ask some additional information about the case. Gupta said that he spent between seven and eight months to rewrite the film's story: "The material is very sensitive and I had to bring it in the realm of cinema. There was hesitation. Will I be able to do justice to the spirit of the story? I was not sure. Finally, I took it as a challenge. It's my interpretation of the events." The film was produced by Ronnie Screwvala under UTV Spotboy, a subsidiary of UTV Motion Pictures.

After Kareena Kapoor refused to play one of the lead role, in January 2010, Rani Mukerji and Vidya Balan were cast to replace her. Mukerji was cast as the stubborn reporter Meera Gaity. Her role was the only fictional aspect in the film, and according to her, Gupta asked her "to build the character on my own and not draw inspirations from anybody". Mukerji stated that Meera has "dynamic" and "modern" character, adding, "It wasn't something that I had ever done before. I actually had to play a man!" Meanwhile, Vidya played the role of Sabrina. She was required to wear men's clothing that was oversized and loose. She described Mukerji as her "favorite" co-star and spoke positively of her rapport with the actress. Myra Karn featured as Jessica in her film debut; she revealed that Gupta had been persuading her to play the part for one year before she accepted. Gautam Kishanchandani finished casting for the film in April 2010.

Produced on a budget of ₹90 million (US$940,000), No One Killed Jessica was filmed in 2-day schedules with Anay Goswamy as the cinematographer. Sabyasachi Mukherjee and Bibi Zeeba Miraie were the costume designers, and Ashley Lobo handed the choreography. While Sukant Panigrahy was the production designer, Helen Jones was the art director. Shooting took place at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport, Ballygunge, Park Circus and New Market; as the crowds were hard to control, Gupta used hidden cameras to shoot scenes in these places. The filming was finished around July 2010, and Aarti Bajaj then edited the film.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for No One Killed Jessica was composed by Amit Trivedi and the lyrics were written by Amitabh Bhattacharya. It contains a total of six songs, with vocals performed by Aditi Singh Sharma, Anushka Manchanda, Bhattacharya, Biswajit Chakraborty, Joi Barua, Mame Khan, Meenal Jain, Raja Hasan, Raman Mahadevan, Robert Bob Omulo, Shilpa Rao, Shriram Iyer, Sonika Sharma, Sonu Kakkar, Tochi Raina, and Vishal Dadlani. The album was launched in the reality show Bigg Boss 4 on 17 December 2010.

Key details