Director: Devashish Makhija
Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Smita Tambe, Megha Mathur, and Tannishtha Chatterjee
Where to watch: Theatres
Rating: 3 stars
'Gaon se nahi bhaaga, bandook se bhaaga (I didn't run from the village, I ran from the violence)", says Manoj Bajpayee's Dasru Karketta aka Bala, a former Maoist in one of the most moving scenes in this cat-and-mouse chase drama, inherently based on the man vs nature conflict.
Dasru and his wife Vaano (Tannishtha Chatterjee) ran away from their village in tribal Jharkhand and are forced to work as construction workers in Mumbai. His wife gets mysteriously killed and now, Bala is a man-on-the run with his three-month-old daughter Joram. Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub plays Ratnakar, the Mumbai police cop who has been assigned the case and he wants to catch Dasru alive, not dead. The Jharkhand MLA Phulo Karma (Smita Tambe as the dreaded villain) is also on the lookout for Dasru as she shares a dark past with him.
For most of its entire duration of 1 hour and 59 minutes, Joram has Dasru, carrying his three-month-old daughter in a sling tied to his chest, running from the authorities. From Mumbai, he goes back to his village in Jharkhand, where he assumes he will be safe until he is not. The non-linear narrative shows why the local poltician Phulo wants to exact her revenge from Dasru, and whether Dasru is able to find a refuge for himself and his daughter.
Devashish Makhija illustrates how corporate greed exploits the natural resources in the name of development in this socio-political drama. Dasru and his people lose their homes after a company cleverly named Pragati Steel (pragati meaning progress in Hindi) enters their village for mining iron. Makhija talks about the displaced communities and devastated forests due to the mining operations in regions such as Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh, and Odisha. He also lays emphasis on the Naxalite forces in these areas, showcasing how the systematic imbalance leads to violence. And hence, Joram is an important watch.
Manoj Bajpayee, who has previously collaborated with the filmmaker on the 2016 short film Taandav and the 2018 feature Bhonsle, carries the entire film on his shoulders. He gives a terrific performance as Dasru aka Bala, owning each and evey frame he is present in. For Bhonsle, Manoj was honoured with his first National Award for Best Actor, having previously won two National Awards as Best Supporting Actor for Satya and a Special Jury Award for Pinjar, and it would be no surprise if he sees more laurels coming his way for Joram too. He is ably supported by Smita Tambe and Zeeshan Ayyub with their sincere performances.
But what doesn't work for Joram is the fact that it is excruciatingly slow and drags at many places. The film loses its momentum quite a number of times with an incohorent screenplay. It even gets difficult to understand some dialogues in the film due to the local tribal dialect. Joram might also leave you restless at times. The writing, by Devashish Makhija himself, should have been more tighter and crisper. The climax also doesn't has the desired impact, ending the film on an unsatisfactory note.
Despite its flaws, the Devashish Makhija directorial should be watched for Manoj Bajpayee's superlative performance and the relevant questions it raises. Joram has already been screened at multiple international film festivals in Sydney, Durban, London, Chicago, Rotterdam, and others, and now, its upon the Indian audiences to give this film a chance it truly deserves.
