‘Qala’ Ending Explained: How Did Jagan Lose His Voice?

Welcome to the Ending Explained for Qala, the newest Indian Netflix film to arrive on the platform this week. The film is directed by Anvita Dutt and stars Tripti Dimri, Swastika Mukherjee, and Babil Khan. The film tells the story of the titular Qala, a young singer who rises to stardom thanks to her fantastic work singing in the movies. However, she seems trapped by her own demons and the feeling of being an impostor. These feelings might destroy her life one way or another if she doesn’t find a way to stop them.

Qala is trying to be a very important movie, as it deals with mental health as one of its main topics. However, the execution when it comes to this very complex subject is done in the most shallow of ways. There is also very little work done when it comes to characterization. It is understandable that the entire focus of the movie is on Qala herself. Nevertheless, without interesting secondary characters, it feels like things happen just because the script says so and not because they are decisions made by the characters of the story.

The following paragraphs contain spoilers for Qala. Read at your own risk.

How Did Jagan Lose His Voice?

The film begins with Qala, our main character, being the main focus of a press junket. You see, Qala is a singer; she is the beautiful voice people hear from the mouths of other actresses in the movies. Actresses in the Indian film industry pretend to be singing using her voice. However, Qala is so good that she has overcome this obstacle, and she is just as famous as the actresses who appear on-screen. The journalists ask their questions, and she answers them, but when the topic of her family rises to the surface she is clearly uncomfortable. Especially when the question is about her brother.

We go back in time, and we see that Qala lives with her mother. Her mother is a very serious person, and she makes Qala practice to the extreme. This is the reason Qala is so good. However, their relationship seems to be very abusive. Her mother was a singer in the past but never reached success, and now she is living her life through Qala. It is a sad affair. Qala’s mother is never satisfied, even when it is plenty clear that Qala is quite talented. Things turn for the worse between mother and daughter when Jagan enters the picture.

Jagan is a young singer. His voice is quite powerful, and his singing puts Qala’s mother in a trance. Jagan has no family, so Qala’s mother takes him in and starts calling him her son. To Qala it is clear that her mother seems to be obsessed with the young man. Qala’s mother wants to turn Jagan into a star, just like he wanted to do with Qala. The difference is that Jagan is a man, so Qala’s mother will reap more benefits. It is a truly awful scenario. Qala becomes neglected, and even when men start having an interest in her, she only wants her mother’s approval.

Qala knows she can be as good as Jagan if not better. She is jealous of him, and so she does something terrible. She mixes his milk with mercury, and this starts making Jagan sick. So sick in fact that he starts losing his voice. Jagan becomes reclusive, and everybody seems to be forgetting about him once again. Jagan becomes depressed, and Qala begins to feel guilty. She tries to support him by saying his voice will come back, but Jagan doesn’t believe her. He commits suicide soon after losing his voice by using a rope.

What Happens To Qala After Jagan Dies?

Jagan’s death has huge repercussions. Not only, the family is not receiving more income from Jagan performances and recordings, but Qala’s mother has become as reclusive as Jagan was when he was alive. She has completely forgotten that she has a daughter and treats Qala as badly as a mother can treat a daughter. Qala is being courted by a producer who feels entitled to the girl’s affection, but when she rejects him, her mother becomes angry at her and throws her out of the house.

Qala travels to Calcuta to work, but the produce keeps humiliating her time and time again. Qala begs for forgiveness and assures him she will do a good job. She pleads because she has nowhere to go. The producer accepts and gives her another chance. Qala keeps signing and starts being noticed in the movies, and later becoming a huge star. However, she starts seeing Jagan’s ghost everywhere. The ghost blames her for living the life he was supposed to be living.

Qala is filled with feelings of dread and guilt, and it starts affecting her work. She can barely walk or talk at all for days. She continues to see Jagan’s ghost everywhere. Her assistants don’t know what to do. It is here, that the movie reveals that it was Qala who made Jagan sick. She tries calling her mother to ask for help, but her mother hangs up the phone on her. Qala is alone, completely alone.

Qala has a final breakdown, and she is taken to a hospital. Meanwhile, at her house, Qala’s mother starts feeling guilty for having abandoned her daughter and decides to go to the city to see her. She arrives at the hospital. The doctors tell her that her daughter needs help, but she says she will take her home. She can’t because, just like Jagan, Qala has hung herself from the ceiling, ending her life. The movie ends with Qala smiling while recording. A glimpse of what her life could have been if she had received help in time.