‘Jaari’ could’ve been so much more. It’s unfortunate that it wasn’t

Upendra Subba’s much-awaited film is culturally insightful and beautifully shot but fails its characters—especially the women.

The year is 1995. The setting is a picturesque village in Panchthar. The mountains shine through in the background, and the lakes glisten. And in the middle of everything, Dayahang Rai is angry. To be more specific, his character Namsang is. That’s Jaari—an angry man with his angry (but mostly crying) wife.