Jaane Jaan (Beloved) is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language mystery thrilled film written and directed by Sujoy Ghosh, and released on Netflix. The film stars Kareena Kapoor Khan as Maya D'Souza, a single mother who becomes involved in a murder, alongside Jaideep Ahlawat as Naren, the neighbour who helps her cover it up, and Vijay Varma as Karan Anand, the police officer investigating the case.
The film is an adaptation of the 2005 Japanese novel The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino.
Jaane Jaan provides examples of the following tropes:
- Adaptational Angst Downgrade:
- In contrast to the novel, where Ishigami lives a far more isolated life and is openly disrespected in class by his students, the film's Naren, while still a loner, is well-liked and respected by the local community, and is on friendly terms with his students.
- Unlike her novel counterpart, Tara doesn't attempt suicide due to guilt over Naren's arrest, and therefore Maya doesn't surrender to the authorities. Maya also never discovers that Naren killed a homeless man to create her alibi.
- Adaptational Job Change: In the novel, the victim Shinji Togashi was a former car salesman who embezzled money from his employer. In this adaptation, the victim Ajir Mhatre is a corrupt police officer who is wanted by his colleagues at the time of his death.
- Adaptational Karma: Inverted. In the novel, Yukawa successfully deduces the truth and realizes that Yasuko was Togashi's actual murderer, and that Ishigami killed a homeless man to manufacture an alibi for her. Yasuko confesses to the authorities once Yukawa tells her the full extent of what Ishigami did for her, and because her daughter attempted suicide due to the guilt. In the film, however, Karan never deduces the truth, and so Maya and her daughter are free to carry on with their lives after Naren's sacrifice.
- Adaptational Villainy: Ajit Mhatre is even more of an Asshole Victim than the novel's Shinji Togashi. While Togashi was a car salesman who stole money from his employer and was then fired, Ajit is a Dirty Cop actively involved in a number of criminal activities and is wanted by his colleagues before his death. Togashi met Yasuko when she was already a nightclub hostess, while Ajit sold Maya into service as a pole-dancer after their marriage. And while Togashi's nefarious designs on his former step-daughter Misato are disgusting enough, Ajit's desire to exploit his biological daughter Tara takes his vileness to a whole different level.
- Composite Character: Mumbai police officer Karan Anand is one of the novel's Detective Kusanagi and Professor Manubu Yukawa ('Detective Galileo'), serving as both the official investigating officer for the case as well as the old college friend of the maths teacher. He also incorporates elements of Kudo, Yasuko's Love Interest from the novel, due to being romantically interested in Maya, which earns him the ire of Naren.
- Criminally Attractive: Investigating officer Karan is attracted to the "hot suspect" Maya, and even takes her on a date to a karaoke bar. A downplayed example though, since Karan never really lets his attraction to Maya cloud his judgement, and the karaoke bar date was at least partially motivated by a desire to check her alibi.
- Foreign Remake: The film is an Indian adaptation of The Devotion of Suspect X, following on from adaptations in Japan, China and South Korea. The action is transposed from Tokyo to the Indian hill-station of Kalimpong.
- Happily Ever Before: The film ends with Naren's plan to take the fall for Ajit's murder succeeding, and him being arrested and imprisoned while Maya is cleared of all suspicion. We never get to see Karan discover the truth behind the murder, and Maya's involvement, the way Professor Yukawa discovered the truth in the novel and shared it with Yasuko, leading to her making a confession out of guilt. Consequently, Maya and her daughter have a far happier ending compared to their novel counterparts.
- Mythology Gag: Karan refers to the unknown suspect who he believes is helping Maya D'Souza cover-up her husband's murder as 'Suspect X' - which is part of the title of the original novel, as well as the title of the original Japanese film adaptation.
- Related in the Adaptation: Misato was Yasuko's daughter from an earlier marriage, and thus only Togashi's former step-daughter in the novel. In this film however, Tara is Ajit's biological daughter, albeit one he had never met before due to Maya fleeing from him while pregnant.
- Title Drop: The classic Bollywood song Jaane Jaan (from which the film derives its title), is heard several times, notably when Maya sings it during her karaoke bar date with Karan.
