Happened to watch masterfully made Jigarthanda XX from Karthik Subburaj. It churned out mixed feelings. The brilliance of film making strikes first, especially when he comes from a self learning stable of movie makers shaped by a TV reality show. This is not a well meaning criticism as it requires to understand film making and its nuances. This is more from story hearing perspective on what hits or misses the common audience.
SJ Suryah shows off a subtle version of himself, when we compare his over the top performance of previous blockbuster films. Surprisingly, it still works out very well. He is the Ray of the film. Raghava Lawrence reminded me of young Rajinikanth on his closeups amped up by Santhosh Narayanan’s music. No wonder Balachander identified the spark in him. The show stealer is Nimisha Sajayan who does her character effortlessly and still stands tall. She is the emotional pole of the film. The signature twists of Karthik works very well, It makes one wonder what is still left in the film as the antagonist gets captured. It actually gets emotionally riveting just after that.
One of the marked differences between the prequel and this film is the Karthik Subbaraj has revered the film making in not so subtle ways and his work also justifies the same. But, has the glorification of cinema actually helps or stands the test of time. The answer will be a “No” as cinema has moved on to be a mindless magic show rather a sensible messenger. There were carefully laid propaganda on War by Hollywood with its favourite theme of Second World War II with the main antagonists as Nazis. Has that changed anything other than glorifying wars? It only changed the past victims to present remorseless murderers in Gaza. Of course there are exceptions like Nolan’s Haunting Dunkirk and I am yet to watch Oppenheimer. Wish Hollywood makes its mark on the futility of wars too.
I always liked Karthik Subbaraj conviction in his films on the social topics, where he stays true. But what lacks is the conveying part where it works on a superficial layer. The tribals and their issues reverberate still today along with the Government’s apathy with their focused obsession on reckless development. Joshimath and Himalayas are the latest visible victims as they are in the news, while other coal field agitations irrespective of the Parties rule are silenced on the National media, owned by the same Cartel.
Where the movie could have weighed on is on exploring their world as the set piece is synthetic and their life is shown in voices rather visuals. Understand it’s already a long convoluted film with filmy reverence on Films, but there are many flabby scenes which does not add to the story, like Lawrence’s monotonous antics of beating up everyone around and the unnecessary fight scene in the Court campus around Gandhi statue. I am personally fine with his strong opinions on Gandhism. At least he remembers Gandhi more than anyone else in Films. But it’s about being practical and factful. I have not seen any gandhian family as portrayed in Mahaan movie. But this movie deals with such criticisms better… with actually a better criticism.. Who cares for Gandhi nowadays. Haiku!
Instead of mass heroic flabby scenes, the movie could have dwelled on the Couple’s life on both their sweet, bitter and bittersweet moments, which forms the emotional core and introduced us to the tribal setting pre-interval so that, we are familiarised to the end objective. It’s like we have religiously sighted Clint Eastwood but forgot on Hollywood’s tried and tested screenplay template of setting the plot context after the impressive introduction. Even the elephant conservation part sounds bit preachy when it could have been visualized, rather on plain talks. For example, someone has to explain us that the elephants have come to thank Lawrence which could have been an emotionally powerful game changing visual, justifying the immaculate graphics. Jeyamohan’s Yaanai Doctor explains a similar scene with just plain prose but still impactful. Even Kumki does it visually. This is also where Blockbuster Kantara beats other films of similar genre. Kantara has its negatives as poorly made film, but it immerses us into the tribal world and its rituals, that it starts mesmerising in the end with the Hero’s transformation. Even the objective and the context set very beautifully in Kantara, that the climax gets larger than life with a simple disappearance. Subburaj could have attained box office pinnacle by fine tuning the screenplay.
Similarly, Lawrence’s motive towards filmmaking is too subtle that it gets ignored. Either they could have built his character sketch with his introduction on that he takes challenges seriously or gets offended on his complexion, or it could have been with a forceful scene, rather a bar brawl with insensitive exchanges by Ilavarasu. That could have made his fight with Shettaani even more meaningful and not just for a Phot0-Op. The game changing scene is shot poorly making the premise shallow. On the other hand SJ Suryah scores very well with a clear character sketch and impresses a lot till the end.
This is not for nitpicking or fault finding an already well made film. It’s about what will I tell my Kid as story I savoured for 3 hours. Whether it’s about an insane rowdy artist or equally insane acting Director trying something ridiculous for their moment of fame or about forest conservation or about a fiercely fighting couple or a plotty political film, the problem of becoming all in one but being master of none. Also, it is a question if what exactly affects me or I take home… as this has the effect of Sethu type climax but still goes off as a whiff of twisty air. Wish the movie added a bit of intensity and focus on screenplay with clear objectives, to achieve its pinnacle. It reminded me of Ponniyin Selvan trying to do an amazing lot and ending up not so convincing, lacking the novel effect we see in Pudhupettai or Aayirathil oruvan – both the films have a clear cut fall and rise of a Hero story. Even Viduthalai hs a clear cut cop dilemma as its theme, though it’s about a similar social issue.
With due apologies on my uninvited comic post… afterall I am just a deadwood, it’s just a lament about why our filmmakers could not reach the crest amidst exhibiting exceptional filmmaking skills as much deserved reward. But filmmaking is still a journey hopefully not as twisted or convoluted as Jigarthanda Double X does. It’s a must watch for its make believe world, earthy humour and signature twists. Jigarthanda Double X is an All-in-One package, doubling up as delicious treat with beautiful characters and also a slight whammy on failing to reach its hidden potential lacking a refined presentation and lack of intensity.
Timepass Politics 