Based on the Jessica Lal murder case, the film revolves around a bartender who dies after being shot by a politician's son and her sister's struggle to find justice for her death.

The film received widespread critical acclaim for its screenplay and cast performances and emerged as a sleeper hit, grossing ₹45.72 crore (US$5.3 million) approximately in its theatrical run.

Jessica, a bartender at an elite event in New Delhi, refuses to serve three men (Manish, Vishal, and Lucky) alcohol after the last call.

There are dozens of eyewitnesses, but as Jessica's sister, Sabrina, discovers, they are either conveniently forgetful or willing to sell their testimony to the highest bidder, leaving an open-and-shut case hostage to greed and political influence.

With the approval of her editor, she performs various sting operations and exposes the failure of law and order in the country while raising questions about the police and the authorities.

[17] Myra Karn featured as Jessica in her film debut; she revealed that Gupta had been persuading her to play the part for one year before she accepted.

It contains a total of six songs, with vocals performed by Aditi Singh Sharma, Anushka Manchanda, Bhattacharya, Biswajit Chakraborty, Joi Barua, Mame Khan, Meenal Jain, Raja Hasan, Raman Mahadevan, Robert Bob Omulo, Shilpa Rao, Shriram Iyer, Sonika Sharma, Sonu Kakkar, Tochi Raina, and Vishal Dadlani.

[28] Indo-Asian News Service, however, felt that the film has "chances ... [to] lure audiences as it is based on one of the most talked about murder cases in the country".

[29] No One Killed Jessica was released on 7 January 2011 and emerged a commercial success and one of the highest-grossing Indian films of the year;[3] the Indo-Asian News Service called it "the lucky mascot".

[30] It faced competition from Sachin P. Karande's thriller Vikalp, Gaurav Jain's animation film Ashoka: The Hero and Rahat Kazmi's romantic comedy Impatient Vivek.

[33] On 20 March, the film and a retrospective of Vidya's films—including Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006), Paa (2009) and Ishqiya (2010)—were screened at the Bollywood and Beyond festival in Australia.

[35] No One Killed Jessica received positive reviews from critics upon release, with praise directed towards its screenplay and Balan and Mukerji's performances.

[39][40] Komal Nahta opined, "Mukerji does a fine job, getting into the skin of the character of the feisty journalist who has no qualms about speaking her heart out and using swear words at the drop of a hat.

[42] Anupama Chopra gave No One Killed Jessica 3 out of 5 stars, claiming that the film was "several notches ahead of the tripe we've been subjected to in theatres lately".

"[46] A critic from The Indian Express complimented the film for its success "to sustain interest as it makes itself way towards the climactic moment when the culprit, despite the best efforts of his politician father and his fawning courtiers, is nabbed.

[48] In a review for Rediff.com, Savera R. Someshwar singled out Vidya's "stand-out" performance, noting: "... [H]er hesitant body language, her faith, her helplessness, her rage, her sorrow and her gratitude all come across beautifully.

[2][52] Writing for The New York Times, Andy Webster found that Gupta "effectively recreate[d]" the Jessica Lal murder case "a milestone ... in the history of a new India".

[52] Zara Farooqui of the Newsline magazine gave a mixed review for the film; she called Mukerji's introduction "is way too long", while praising her "doe-eyed beauty".

[54] While Gulf News referred to Vidya as "brilliance",[55] Screen International found her performance to be overshadowed by Karn, who played a role the critic described as "bubbly, bold and somewhat uppity".

[56] Richard Kuipers of Variety took note of its production aspects; he wrote that Goswamy's "fluid [cinematography]" and Panigrahy's "richly textured decor, spanning high- and low-end life in New Delhi top an impressive tech package".