A juggernaut that will change the face of film
JIGARTHANDA will go down in cinematic history as a game-changer and trendsetter, a film that redefines the boundaries of commercial cinema.
Siddharth, Lakshmi Menon, Karunagaran and Bobby Simha head the cast in this, the second film from director Karthik Subbaraj, following Pizza in 2012.
The supporting cast includes Naaser, Aadukulla Naren and Ambiga, with a special appearance by Vijay Sethupathy.
Karthik (Siddharth) is an aspirant film director who is anxious to make his mark. When a producer offers to finance a commercial gangster film, Karthik decides to base his script on a real-life gangster.
What starts off as a quest for a script soon turns into a fight for survival — but Karthik has more than a few aces up his sleeve.
This is Siddharth’s most ambitious role to date, with a character who has forever changed the portrayal of a protagonist for Indian cinema.
Menon has a smaller role but takes full advantage of her screen space to impress.
One of the film’s most memorable portrayals comes from Simha in only his third film role. His portrayal of the gangster Sethu must count as one of the most powerful of an antagonist in decades
Jigarthanda features a multi-layered screenplay with many twists to keep the viewer firmly engaged. Being a gangster film, it does have some strong language, but nevertheless contains some gems in the script.
Although the first half takes a while to get going, the technical excellence of the film means the flaw is hardly noticeable.
If this film does not win Santhosh Narayanan the award for best original background score, there has to be something drastically wrong. This is by far the most mesmerising background score of the past two decades. Apart from this, the film takes audiography to new highs for Indian cinema.
And Gavemic U Ary’s cinematography ensures that even those not initiated in the nuances of filming will realise that this is a movie which is far different from the usual fare.
The intelligent use of filters, unusual angles, creative diffusing and a brilliant use of light make this a dream example for aspirant cinematographers to emulate.
Subbaraj has immortalised himself with this intense, complex, unpredictable and often funny gangster film.
His liberties with the central characters and his artistic experimentation ensure that this film will be studied and discussed for a long time to come.
Having already made a splash in Pizza, Subbaraj has become a tsunami in the world of commercial norms.
Jigarthanda is sheer brilliance.
The complexity of the plot, screenplay and characters does not make it inaccessible to the average film fan — you just have to look at its successful run at the box office worldwide for proof. This is a film to be savoured and enjoyed on the big screen.