Jalsa teaser: Vidya Balan and Shefali Shah sport grim faces in this intriguing-looking thriller

The teaser is full of shots featuring Balan and Shah’s characters. In fact, most of the teaser is made up of brief glimpses of a few grim faces.

Balan appears to be playing the role of a journalist who assigns the story involving the girl (who is probably dead) to somebody. “There’s a story. Get working on it right away,” we hear her say. And Shah’s defiant expression suggests perhaps it was her daughter who was involved in the accident.

An unknown voice utters, “These days, it’s better to hide the news than to say it.” Mohammad Iqbal Khan’s unknown character also appears briefly.

The teaser, wisely, does not reveal anything important about the plot (that we already don’t know), and like a good teaser, evokes the viewer’s interest in the film’s story and its dingy world while keeping almost everything under wraps. Jalsa’s title, which means a celebration or gathering, appears to be ironic and the film’s likely aims to explore the flaws in institutions like law enforcement, justice system, and media.

This is Balan’s second film with director Triveni. Previously, she starred in Tumhari Sulu. Interestingly, Manav Kaul, who played the role of her husband, is also part of Jalsa.

Rohini Hattangadi, Surya Kasibhatla, Kashish Rizwan, Shafeen Patel, Vidhatri Bandi, Ghanshyam Lalsa, Shrikant Mohan Yadav, and Junaid Khan also feature in the cast of the movie.

Jalsa is jointly produced by Bhushan Kumar, and Krishan Kumar of T-Series, Vikram Malhotra and Shikhaa Sharma from Abundantia Entertainment, and Triveni.

Producer Bhushan Kumar had said earlier in a statement, “Jalsa is one of the most gripping and entertaining films that we’ve been a part of at T-series and I am thrilled that it is with one of our most trusted partners, Abundantia Entertainment. We have had an extremely successful collaboration in the past with films like Airlift, Sherni and Chhorii and I look forward to recreating the same magic with Jalsa. I am excited for the film to premiere on Amazon Prime Video as it will allow the film to get a truly global audience as it rightfully deserves.”

Jalsa arrives on March 18.