‘Pooja Meri Jaan’ review: Mrunal’s film a must-watch

• Pooja Meri Jaan explores an obsessive man's reaction to rejection.
• Mrunal Thakur plays a woman facing a trial after a friend's suicide.
• The film highlights how media trials and social shaming target women.

Pooja Meri Jaan Review: What happens when a man’s fragile ego gets hurt after a woman rejects his romantic advances? More often than not, the man ignores this rejection and continues his relentless pursuit,

interfering in her relationships, spreading lies, and even blaming her for his obsessive actions.

Pooja Meri Jaan is a rather uncomfortable but necessary retelling of this tale. Pooja and Aniket are college friends, part of the same theatre troupe. They often perform as Romeo and Juliet, and this dramatic romance spills over into their real lives when Aniket falls in love with Pooja.

Despite his repeated attempts to woo her, Pooja always rejects him and insists they stay friends. But her pleas fall on deaf ears, and after a Romeo and Juliet enactment, Aniket proposes to Pooja- much to her horror. When she rejects his proposal and confronts him, Aniket kills himself, making Pooja the only suspect in an abetment to suicide trial.

Behind bars, Pooja contacts Sana and asks her to represent her as her lawyer. Sana agrees, but she’s also haunted by her friendship with Aniket. Whom to trust: the woman last seen with the dead man or the man who was a good friend to everyone? What follows is the predictable but unfortunately real media trial, public shaming, and scrutiny of the woman whose only fault is that she used her agency.

Pooja Meri Jaan doesn’t necessarily bring a new story to the screen, but it reiterates a frightening reality. Mrunal Thakur plays Pooja convincingly and lets the character shine without the actor overpowering it. Huma Qureshi is a natural as Sana, and her dialogue delivery feels like a real-life conversation. However, this is a film where the actors dissolve into the story, and the story takes centre stage.

Navjot Gulati does a fine job with the narrative, but not without some flaws. Pooja and Aniket’s arc is the film’s main focus, and it is well explored with each layer given enough attention. Vikram Singh Chauhan does well in his brief scenes as Aniket. The film does not overdramatise or unnecessarily embellish trauma, which makes it seem disturbingly real.

However, Sana’s internal conflict needed more attention. Perhaps her friendship with Aniket needed more screen time- if she is troubled enough to see his ghost, they must’ve been good friends. Secondary characters like the policewoman played by Sunita Rajwar and Aniket’s lawyer played by Vijay Raaz seemed like teases- their banter hinted at interesting plot points, but they were never explored and became distracting.

Despite some choppy plot points, the film always holds attention and is a must-watch, especially in the current social climate. It reiterates how abusive people are generally some of the nicest people who are well-liked by everyone around them. This is why people have a hard time being believed when they finally tell their truth. The film’s messaging is extremely important and never gets lost in the narrative.