JIGARTHANDA- the good the bad and the
hero!
Cast:
-
Siddharth as Karthik, Lakshmi Menon as
Kayal, Bobby Simha as Assault Sethu, Karunakaran as Orruni,
&
the Crew: - S/SP/DIR – Karthik Subbaraj. D.O.P – Gavemic U Ary, Music –
Santhosh Narayanan, Edit – Vivek Harshan
Produced
by: – Five Star
Films/SMS Picture
At
the outset I would like to congratulate director Karthik Subbaraj for a unique
and novel attempt in storytelling, screen play, and technical innovations in
‘Jigarthanda’. Having said that this film has definitely been inspired from the
hit Korean film ‘A dirty Carnival’. This does not necessarily rob the director
of the credit for having ingeniously ‘Indianizing’ a well crafted gangster
‘spoof’! So let’s get to the premise:-
PREMISE:
-
This is about a ‘viscom’ student Karthik (Siddharth) who in a reality TV show
(short film competition) is caught in between a bitter rivalry between Nassar
(an award winning director) and a producer who has risen from the ranks. Nassar
thrashes Karthik’s short film and the producer in a fit of rage differs and
accepts to produce the short film. Subsequently the producer gets cold feet and
tries back off. In an effort to stall he suggests that Karthik to make a
gangster film full of action, blood and gore like Godfather, Mahanadhi etc.
This spurs Karthik to travel to Madurai in search of a real ‘local’ gangster “Assault
Sethu” (Bobby Simha). With the aid of his college mate Oorani (Karunakaran) he
finds ways and means to get close the dreaded gangster and get firsthand info about him to make his first realistic film. Why does this remind me of a
local Madurai real life politician or am I imagining. I wonder! Karthik and co
decide to exploit the inherent weakness
of booze, porn etc of the 3 of the closest ‘adiyals’ of Sethu in an effort to
make them reveal candid details about him. This leads to several piquant
situations which are interlaced with serious gangster issues like contract
killing, gang rivalries etc and comical and humorous situations between Karthik
and the 'adiyals'. Finally and most unexpectedly a raw recruit of Sethu befriends
Karthik and is ready to spill the beans on Sethu and his merry 'adiyal' gang. During
the course of all this Lakshmi Menon a small time con artist who steals saris
from shops and sells them to make a small profit falls for Karthik. This love track between the two was rather
unconvincing compared to the rest of the premise. In fact it somehow felt like
watching the songs of a film on a TV channel.
In the second half the director dares to surprise the
viewer is when Karthik turns the table on Sethu. Karthik exploits the glamour
stuck Sethu and makes him believe that the film he is going to shoot based on
his real life that will make him a folk lore legend. But what Karthik does not
foresee is Sethu’s passion to play the hero in this film. This desire in Sethu
is fuelled by Kayal as the scorned love interest tries to get back at Karthik
through this effective manipulation. It was refreshing to see an intelligent
female lead for a change. Karthik does not want to compromise but he and his
producer are forced to agree on Sethu being cast as the main lead failing which
Sethu vows to finish them off. Karthik hires an acting teacher (Sunder Raja) to
teach acting to the entire crew. This leads to a number of hilarious situations
as the second half turns into a ‘gangster spoof’. Finally the shooting is
completed during which the actual footage of scenes are shot creating many a
light hearted situations featuring Sethu and his limited acting prowess.
& the climax the completed film is screened by Siddharth
and the viewers love the film but 'Assault Sethu' hates being made to look like a buffoon and loathes Siddharth! In the clash of the good (Karthik) & the
bad (Sethu) turns ‘Ugly’ in the right sense of the word! Honestly I really
did not understand the object of the climax probably because I am dense or the director
overdid the scene to leave the viewer totally perplexed and deliberately stupid
in not knowing why!
The
one’s which really irked me:– 1. Assault Sethu is portrayed as an astute and a
heartless character, always a step ahead of his rivals. Half way through he
suddenly turns into a stupid dumb ass and reveals all on camera (the misdeeds
and murders him and his chelas had committed which adds up to a whopping 51!)
Even if he is glamour stuck it is too farfetched to stomach. 2. Why the hell don’t
the police use this as evidence? Does it mean that all such criminals are the real
‘heroes’ and film makers of today’s Tamilnadu and are viewed as such by the ‘aam
aadmi’ ? I leave it the discerning viewers to decide. In the entire film the
cops once again seem to be totally absent. Madurai seems to be ruled by
gangsters and gangsters alone. “Again it reminded me of someone from the real
world!” 3. I know this film is based on gangsters but why are all the songs
being sung by quirky and guttural voices. It beats me! 4. The acting coach
should have also worked on Siddhartha’s acting skills! On second thoughts since
he only acts as a director in this film his name sake Karthik Subbaraj probably
decided that it is really not necessary for him to perform well after all the girls
will automatically swoon with ooh’s! and aah’s as soon as the chocolate boy Sid
appears on screen. Honestly Siddharth the actor really sucks big time in this
film and probably the biggest minus in this film. 5. Film would also have
been better served with a 30 mins cut. 6. The climax disappointed me as I
thought it was rather timid, tepid and insipid
What
worked for me:- 1. Simha’s performance 2. Simha’s silent mother 3. Performances
of all the supporting Characters especially that of Karunakaran as Orruni and Sounder
Raja as the acting teacher. 4. The heroine’s characterization 5. The camera
angles tone, lighting etc worked in tandem with the premise. The technical
aspects stood out. 6. Screen play and quirky humor 7. In spite of the absence
of all the usual ‘masala’ elements the premise is fairly engrossing and keeps
the viewer engaged most of the time.
Bottom
line: - A fairly well orchestrated and “Indianized” premise! The climax a bit
of a dampener!
The
producer deserves to take the final bow!
Finally
a quote: - “It's funny how the colors of the real world only seem really real, when
you watch them on a screen.” ― Anthony Burgess
My
Rating: - 3.5/5 Siddhartha’s performance minus .25 Total:-3.25/5
Until
Next Time,
Director
Haricharan
2/8/2014
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