Jagame Thandhiram, On Netflix, Is A Flamboyant But Generic Drama About An Important Issue

Director: Karthik Subbaraj 
Forged: Dhanush, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Joju George, James Cosmo, Kalaiyarasan

Jagame Thandhiram begins with the picture of a ship within the English channel with refugees who’re approached by an English patrol boat. Should you take a look at Karthik Subbaraj’s profession one can find a really comparable state of affairs in Neer the place three Indian fishermen (Vijay Sethupathi performs one among them) are attacked by a Sri Lankan patrol boat. There’s a similarity between the refugees and the Indian fishermen as a result of each are touring into waters that aren’t their very own nation’s. The query now turns into: what’s your land and the place do you belong?

This query appears to curiosity Karthik Subbaraj, particularly within the context of the Eelam motion. The final scene of Karthik Subbaraj’s brief Katchi Pizhai has to do with war-torn Sri Lanka. In Jigarthanda, there’s a reporter who says he covers arasiyal and Eelam. In Iraivi, SJ Suryah directs a movie that’s titled ‘seventeenth Could’ which is a vital day within the historical past of the Eelam motion. In Jagame Thandhiram, he’s diving into this curiosity intimately. And it’s not notably the Eelam problem but in addition a broader international refugee disaster. Karthik Subbaraj addresses the difficulty via the lives of some displaced Sri Lankan Tamils who’re dwelling in London. There’s even a line that goes: namma payyangallaam pulingada (our boys are tigers). 

Suruli (Dhanush), a gangster from Madurai, doesn’t even know that there are Sri Lankan refugees dwelling in Tamil Nadu. Possibly that is Karthik Subbaraj’s method of claiming that the youthful technology has slowly forgotten what occurred. The primary half of the movie (although it’s exhausting to say on an OTT platform the place you narrow it into two halves) is concerning the rivalry between two gangsters: Sivadoss (Joju George) and Peter (James Cosmo). They’re each concerned in illegal actions and tread on the opposite’s territory. Peter is a white supremacist who needs England to be crammed with solely white folks. Sivadoss however is a humanist who’s open to all folks. Via a collection of occasions Suruli will get in the midst of a conflict of ideologies between the 2. 

Joju George is great though his character is written generically. His bigness and heat (you additionally see it within the Malayalam movie June) makes up for rather a lot. James Cosmo performs Peter excellently; a variety of international characters in our movies are performed by unhealthy actors. Additionally, what stunned me was that his traces had been like what an precise Englishman would possibly say. They don’t sound like traces an Indian imagines an Englishman saying. They actually match into the world of Peter. He even will get an incredible punchline about Lord Ganesha. After a very long time, we get a worthy opponent for the hero.

It is a flamboyantly made movie. There’s an necessary assembly and Santhosh Narayanan creates a sound that seems like a comb shifting throughout tooth. Mixed with a symphonic orchestra, it sounds eerie. And a few of the setups work splendidly. Just like the scene the place a automobile lies on a monitor as a practice is approaching (cinematography by  Shreyaas Krishna). The way in which it performs out, particularly after Suruli will get into the practice, is incredible. There’s a struggle scene in a parotta mess the place the narrowness of the place lends itself to a sort of struggle choreography that we haven’t seen a lot earlier than. The movie’s most attention-grabbing shot is a 360-degree shot round 4 folks the place every time the digital camera comes across the energy equations between them change. This might have been proven via direct cuts too however the 360-degree shot lends a sure flamboyance.

With regards to the writing, although, Karthik Subbaraj hasn’t been fairly as assured, for some motive. Plenty of latest Tamil movies are overwritten and after they’re edited to a sure size there are sudden jerks and the movie goes all out whack: there’s no rhythm and the scenes don’t lock organically to one another. There’s a fantastically staged introduction scene for Attila (Aishwarya Lekshmi), who’s a singer in a nightclub. She’s singing ‘Kaathoduthaan’ from Velli Vizha and her voice switches to LR Eswari’s authentic as soon as Suruli begins to turn into taken with her. However, for some motive, the tune has to cease abruptly and there’s one other abrupt swap to a romantic scene between Suruli and Attila. There’s additionally an odd stretch the place we lower from a funeral dance to Suruli as a captured particular person (we don’t see him being captured, although); there’s one thing that feels lacking in all this. 

I additionally want they’d gotten rid of the bigger subplot about immigrants and simply stored it to Sri Lankan Tamils. The smaller the scope, the larger the factors you can also make. The movie additionally tries to make a bigger level a few invoice that suppresses immigration. This feels extraneous as a result of a lot of that’s already being instructed via the lives of Sri Lankan Tamils. 

As a result of it’s tough to really feel for a problem in a movie, you must personalize the difficulty via the characters. So, when folks involved with a problem die, we must always actually really feel for them. By feeling for them, you might be additionally feeling for the difficulty at massive. However that doesn’t occur right here apart from one character  (although it’s very efficient and shifting in that occasion). 

Dhanush doesn’t play the same old hero within the movie. Although it’s not a stretch for him, the character is model new for him as a result of he’s an unrepentant mercenary for two-thirds of the movie. I used to be actually impressed as a result of the main man had no redeeming qualities. He’s prepared to promote himself to anybody with out worrying concerning the penalties. Even within the small Madurai portion, Karthik Subbaraj manages to herald the difficulty of territory and possession: there’s a North Indian who Suruli can’t stand. We already see a sort of territorial battle. 

I felt that this could have been Suruli’s coming-of-age story. He has an incredible line: thanakkunnu vandhadhaan oraikkum valikkum. It’s his ache that we must be feeling. The movie ought to have been about him wrapping his head across the problem of refugees. The identical level is made with very good financial system by Murugesan (Gajaraajan). All he needs is his personal piece of land and when he lastly will get it, it’s one of the great items of the movie (he additionally will get a terrific line about what a primary date constitutes). 

Issues get higher within the final third of the movie as a result of it’s extra emotional and we’re invested within the proceedings. However even these scenes are swiftly written and accomplished. General, you get the sensation of watching a not-bad generic drama. I’m left with the identical query each time I see a significant star in a movie that discusses a problem, versus a movie like Pariyerum Perumal with a smaller hero.

To be truthful to Karthik Subbaraj, there are heroic moments, slo-mo moments, placing on sun shades moments, the massive BGM moments — however they’re stored to a minimal. But, there’s this sense that one man is utilizing his heroism to deal with and even clear up a really, very advanced problem. Among the finest traces of the movies is by Attila: you can begin a battle however you may’t finish it. However, apparently, if you’re a hero, you may. That, typically, finally ends up being a disservice to the difficulty. You’re torn between the truth that somebody did a movie about an necessary problem and that the movie just isn’t as excellent because it may very well be.