Jalsa trailer out: Vidya Balan and Shefali Shah lead a promising thriller

When a young girl, Alia, is run over by a car, a journalist catches the scent of a larger coverup. Her quest to uncover the truth throws up buried secrets.

In Jalsa, the new film by Suresh Triveni (Tumhari Sulu), the lives of four women are inextricably tied. There is the victim and the victim's mother on the one side. Shefali Shah is Rukshana, a cook whose life is wrecked by a sudden tragedy. On the other end, we meet Maya Menon (Vidya Balan), a star anchor. Maya is Rukshana's employer and also the boss of Vidhatri Bandi, who plays the cub reporter. The complex interrelations are hinted at throughout Jalsa's trailer, with several characters introduced but not dwelled upon. Who is the crooked-looking man in Maya's office? What does Manav Kaul's smile hide? Who is lying, and who is speaking the truth?

"Jalsa is a drama peppered with the right amount of thrill," Suresh said in a statement. "The film attempts to deliver a compelling story of secrets, truths, ironies laced with powerful, emotionally complex performances by Vidya and Shefali and the rest of the ensemble."

“With every film I do, my attempt is to tell a new story and be a different person from the characters I’ve played so far, and Jalsa ticked those boxes," Vidya added. "Jalsa gave me the opportunity to delve into the gray and it’s been a very challenging, enriching, and fulfilling experience for me as an actor."

Jalsa releases on March 18 on Prime Video.