There is something about making a lot of short films that makes you grow into a better director of feature films, in an extremely short interval of time. Nothing else explains how Karthik Subburaj (like Balaji Mohan and Nalan Kumarasamy, who appears in a cameo here) keeps the audience engaged without resorting to any time tested Tamil cinema gimmick, and does it with consummate ease. Finally after 75 years of Tamil Cinema, you get to see a hero, friend zoning a heroine (who comes up with a quick reposte to restore the world order).
Subburaj takes us to his home turf of short films and weaves a story around Karthik (Siddharth) who moves to Madurai to collect material for his debut feature film, based on the life of local gangster Sethu (Bobby Simha). Quickly a bunch of supporting characters take over, from Karthik's friend Karunakaran, to the left (a booze addict), the right (a porn addict), a story teller, a saree thief, a son of an ex-don, a newbee gangster eager to lay his first kill and a strict acting coaching, major or minor - all fantastically etched. If Nan Irukka Bayamae saw Karunakaran shine in a comedic role in a horror movie, he shines in a similar prominent role in a gangster flick here.
Subburaj quickly and effectively establishes the stakes, and the gangsters loom large at the back of your mind, even as the contours shift. As soon as Karthik breaks down the characters of the gang members, the film turns into a laugh riot. Subburaj sets up a short gag about the porn addict, with a few quick 'exchanges', goes for the money shot and just simply moves on to the next joke. The film has its gripping moment though. (Spoiler alert!) The lead up to the interval is just brilliant. The literal pause at the interval point is just as effective as the scenes that unfold before it.
After under selling himself in Chashme Baddoor and Theeya Velai Seiyyanum Kumaru, Siddharth returns to form, and holds himself ad mist an array of strong performances. He is brilliant when he breaks down under the weight of Simha's threat. And with each set back, his character turns more resolute and ruthless and few actors can exhibit this transition with a balance of conviction and subtlety. Simha is effective as the don, and like Siddharth is the only character with a varying character trajectory and does well at every point. Lakshmi Menon's saree puller starts of with much promise, but then is angle is not explored further than a heroine introduction (though Menon is very likeable as the enga ooru super figure). Casting Vijay Sethupathi as Sethu in Karthik's reconstruction of the film scenes seems like a touch of genius! (A lot of people from the cast of Pudhupettai make an appearance here. I could count upto 4).
The best thing about Jigarthanda is how less distracting it is. You know you are completely in, when the gang makes a head count, you could second guess the next dialogue about, how if things had turned out differently they would be celebrating a half-century. Despite the tightness, Subburaj reuses the pause artifact at more than one places, especially towards the end, and it is no good if you can half second guess a change of heart in either of the lead characters, and lesser actors may not have held up till the end, [Spoiler alert!] so much that I was worried about the relative demerits of engaging in a long conversation with petrol all over your body. But by this time, Subburaj has left me with an impression that this is a great film, and hedging for a safe ending would not have made me change it. That's probably why he even lets Karunakaran question the lack wisdom in venturing from the hideout and ends the scene with a rationalizationz (and yet another joke)! The epilogue is a bonus! [Mega Spoiler alert!] Simha as a struggling actor in a film's epilogue? How many times!
The cinematography stands out in one scene as Karthik contemplates before the conversation with the Kuruvamma story teller. And so does the music, at the start of Pradeep's vocal during a theme song. In a movie as engaging as this one, they just flicker brightly, whereas in a drab act like Thalaivaa, the cinematography is distracting because how it is so good, compared to the other aspects of the film. Apart from these moments, music and cinematography jell perfectly with the rest of the film. Songs cut in so seemlessly (kudos, Santosh Narayanan!) that I can not recollect the order of the songs. And when Subburaj wanders briefly, it is sheer Tarantino like brilliance, like when a self aware Karunakaran waves at his hallucination of Sivanesan!
Except for the gripping gangster build up scenes and Karthik's edginess, Jigarthanda is more a comedy film like "Boss Engira Baskaran" than a gangster flick like "Nayakan" or "Thalapathy". To me Jigarthanda works well both as a comedy and as a gangster film. [Spoiler alert] But I suspect there is more than one Karthik tricking us into believing that we are in for a gangster flick!
Subburaj takes us to his home turf of short films and weaves a story around Karthik (Siddharth) who moves to Madurai to collect material for his debut feature film, based on the life of local gangster Sethu (Bobby Simha). Quickly a bunch of supporting characters take over, from Karthik's friend Karunakaran, to the left (a booze addict), the right (a porn addict), a story teller, a saree thief, a son of an ex-don, a newbee gangster eager to lay his first kill and a strict acting coaching, major or minor - all fantastically etched. If Nan Irukka Bayamae saw Karunakaran shine in a comedic role in a horror movie, he shines in a similar prominent role in a gangster flick here.
Subburaj quickly and effectively establishes the stakes, and the gangsters loom large at the back of your mind, even as the contours shift. As soon as Karthik breaks down the characters of the gang members, the film turns into a laugh riot. Subburaj sets up a short gag about the porn addict, with a few quick 'exchanges', goes for the money shot and just simply moves on to the next joke. The film has its gripping moment though. (Spoiler alert!) The lead up to the interval is just brilliant. The literal pause at the interval point is just as effective as the scenes that unfold before it.
After under selling himself in Chashme Baddoor and Theeya Velai Seiyyanum Kumaru, Siddharth returns to form, and holds himself ad mist an array of strong performances. He is brilliant when he breaks down under the weight of Simha's threat. And with each set back, his character turns more resolute and ruthless and few actors can exhibit this transition with a balance of conviction and subtlety. Simha is effective as the don, and like Siddharth is the only character with a varying character trajectory and does well at every point. Lakshmi Menon's saree puller starts of with much promise, but then is angle is not explored further than a heroine introduction (though Menon is very likeable as the enga ooru super figure). Casting Vijay Sethupathi as Sethu in Karthik's reconstruction of the film scenes seems like a touch of genius! (A lot of people from the cast of Pudhupettai make an appearance here. I could count upto 4).
The best thing about Jigarthanda is how less distracting it is. You know you are completely in, when the gang makes a head count, you could second guess the next dialogue about, how if things had turned out differently they would be celebrating a half-century. Despite the tightness, Subburaj reuses the pause artifact at more than one places, especially towards the end, and it is no good if you can half second guess a change of heart in either of the lead characters, and lesser actors may not have held up till the end, [Spoiler alert!] so much that I was worried about the relative demerits of engaging in a long conversation with petrol all over your body. But by this time, Subburaj has left me with an impression that this is a great film, and hedging for a safe ending would not have made me change it. That's probably why he even lets Karunakaran question the lack wisdom in venturing from the hideout and ends the scene with a rationalizationz (and yet another joke)! The epilogue is a bonus! [Mega Spoiler alert!] Simha as a struggling actor in a film's epilogue? How many times!
The cinematography stands out in one scene as Karthik contemplates before the conversation with the Kuruvamma story teller. And so does the music, at the start of Pradeep's vocal during a theme song. In a movie as engaging as this one, they just flicker brightly, whereas in a drab act like Thalaivaa, the cinematography is distracting because how it is so good, compared to the other aspects of the film. Apart from these moments, music and cinematography jell perfectly with the rest of the film. Songs cut in so seemlessly (kudos, Santosh Narayanan!) that I can not recollect the order of the songs. And when Subburaj wanders briefly, it is sheer Tarantino like brilliance, like when a self aware Karunakaran waves at his hallucination of Sivanesan!
Except for the gripping gangster build up scenes and Karthik's edginess, Jigarthanda is more a comedy film like "Boss Engira Baskaran" than a gangster flick like "Nayakan" or "Thalapathy". To me Jigarthanda works well both as a comedy and as a gangster film. [Spoiler alert] But I suspect there is more than one Karthik tricking us into believing that we are in for a gangster flick!
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