Jazbaa trailer: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan packs a punch as a feisty advocate

There was a time when Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was called expressionless and plastic. Even though she was hailed as the most beautiful woman in the world, she was criticized for looking the same in every movie. Her comeback film, however, aptly titled Jazbaa, proves that wrong. There has been immense buzz around Sanjay Gupta’s Jazbaa with a starcast like Irrfan Khan, Jackie Shroff and Shabana Azmi. We’ve all been curious to know what Aishwarya’s role would be in the film, and after watching the trailer, it’s safe to say that we  agree with the claim she made in this Vogue interview , “Comeback? I never went away.” [caption id=“attachment_2407090” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Screen grab from the trailer.[/caption] Jazbaa’s trailer begins with Rai introducing herself as advocate Anuradha Verma, and upon hearing her voice you immediately get a sense of nostalgia. What you see is a slightly older Aishwarya. Upon getting an anonymous call asking her to defend a rape and murder victim, she learns that her daughter is being held ransom. What follows is a spiral of events that force her to fight for something she is against. On the negative side, the melodrama is quite pronounced. There are clap-worthy dialogues (mostly helmed by Irrfan Khan, who plays her aide), loud background score and the typical Sanjay Gupta green visual overtone, possibly trying to indicate seriousness (see Kaante or Zinda to know what we’re talking about). The only glimpse we get of the bad guy is someone sitting in a car wearing an gas mask looking object. Maybe Gupta’s had a The Dark Knight Rises hangover? That being said, Aishwarya Rai’s role as a desperate mother fighting for her daughter’s life looks promising. Jazbaa releases on October 9. Watch the trailer here: