Directed by Mehul Kumar, It is based on the true incident of the rape of a minor in a Mumbai local train in which no spectator came to her assistance. This film goes several steps further to examine the mind of her parents, Sanjay Kapoor and Raveena Tandon. Only it doesn’t stop there but goes into police corruption, manipulation of the judiciary and political interference. In the effort to encompass everything it loses touch with the core issue.

Shruti [child artiste Hansika Motwani] is the 10-year-old daughter of Shrikant [Sanjay Kapoor] and Shraddha [Raveena Tandon]. She travels to her school by the local train every morning. One day, she accidentally gets locked up in her school and by the time she catches a train to go home, it is already midnight. Three young drug addicts also board the train and seeing her alone, they rape her in front of three passengers who seem afraid and helpless to come to her aid. Shruti is brought in an unconscious state to the hospital by the police. She breathes her last in front of her aggrieved parents. The city is shocked by this untoward incident.

The case is handed over to Kripa Shankar Thakur [Manoj Bajpai], an upright and honest cop from the Crime Branch. From here starts an unusual legal battle between the honest and the corrupt.

Mehul Kumar was instrumental in giving a fillip to Raaj Kumar's career with MARTE DAM TAK and Nana Patekar's career with author-backed roles in KRANTIVEER and TIRANGAA. In JAAGO, the director recreates the magic with Manoj Bajpai, who delivers an astounding performance.

Despite her half-baked character, Raveena Tandon is every bit the angry mother she ought to be for this film. Sanjay Kapoor doesn't have the maturity to convey the distress of a mourning father.

On the whole, JAAGO has a hard-hitting theme, but Mehul Kumar clearly lacks the sensitivity and sensibility to tackle such delicate topics.