Jana Gana Mana

Young gun Dijo Jose Antony is only one film old in the Malayalam film industry but managed to give new meaning to the campus movie genre with his debut effort "Queen (2018)", which, despite featuring a fresh cast of newcomers, managed to smartly blend college life with a strong social message and the thrills of a legal procedural. In "Jana Gana Mana" the director has established stars to work with and leverages them to the best possible extent, delivering a strong, message-oriented thriller that balances massy moments with unexpected twists to keep the audience hooked for its entirety.

"Jana Gana Mana" arrived in theatres having already veered delectably off the beaten path, having released its teaser and trailer with scenes not from the movie but from its upcoming sequel, in what is surely a first of its kind promotional stunt in world cinema. The trailer especially featured a 4-minute awe-inspiring one-shot action sequence that had captured the imagination of Malayali audiences and it was with this burden of expectations that the movie premiered across screens worldwide today.

We follow the story of ACP Sajjan, played by the ever-dependable National Award winner Suraj Venjaramoodu, who is assigned the sensational case of the brutal murder of a college professor who was adored by her students and was known for her staunch political stands. As the student protests build due to political interference and constant hurdles being placed in the investigation, the case moves to a tense courtroom drama, where the pace becomes breakneck, and the stakes become monumental.

Despite a sluggish first half laced with some cringe-worthy moments of excess melodrama and misplaced songs, the introduction of Prithviraj's character and the inflexion points in the plot at the onset of the second half more than makes up for it. Vincy Aloshious is especially on-point in her supporting role as a student leader while Pasupathy Raj, Mamtha Mohandas, GM Sundar and Shari also deliver convincing performances. Jakes Bejoy's background score is a rousing companion to the narration throughout the length of the film, providing emotion and stimulation in equal measure, making the punch dialogues whistle worthy and generating goosebumps in the mass elevation scenes.

Prithviraj and Suraj Venjaramoodu deliver another brilliant lead-duo combination hit after the blockbuster "Driving License (2019)", albeit with few scenes together. With a lingering promise of more back-and-forth between these two captivating actors in the sequel, I can't wait to see how their sparkling chemistry is carried forward. Without giving too much away about Prithviraj's character, he is enigmatic and powerful in equal measure and delivers strong messages about many of the societal evils we are facing in the world around us.

The plot of the movie would have seemed ludicrous about 5 years ago but having seen and heard about incidents like the 2020 Jawaharlal Nehru University Attacks and false-flag operations and co-ordinated cyber-attacks deliberately set up by governments to sway voters as elections approach, truth is stranger than fiction in the world we live in today where right-wing fundamentalists have overrun our polity and have made extraconstitutional and extrajudicial decisions their second nature. While the messaging tends to get a bit loud and the storyline is sometimes spoonfed to the audience without much subtlety, one can forgive the makers as such is the importance of the messages they are trying to put out with this earnest project.

The director and writer Sharis Mohammed deserve all the praise in the world for performing a magician's sleight of hand in the final act of the film, ending this tantalizing first instalment on a knife-edge, with the unsaid promise of making the franchise a genre-bending, era-defining duology, With the trailer and the teaser apparently giving us only a glimpse of what Dijo, Prithviraj and this kickass team have planned for us in the second instalment, the anticipation is clearly through the roof as to what they will come up with, without the shoot restrictions enforced by Covid that they had to circumvent for the first part. "Jana Gana Mana" is a mandatory theatre watch that should open the doors to braver, more political thrillers in the future for Malayalam cinema! Recommended!

JanaGanaMana ~ Dijo & Sharis created a good theme which is enacted well by Prithiviraj . His Powerhouse perfomance is the backbone of the film. Suraj & Mamtha supported well with their roles. BGM by JakesBejoy is apt for a commercial thriller. Awaiting for the sequel

Good 1st half with a relevant theme. Solid Interval block!, Looking forward for a great 2nd Half 😃🔥 Jakes Bejoy, Take a bow 🙏Too much Dramatic portion! Last 30 min falls flat!

JanaGanaMana marks another fantastic achievement in the filmography of Prithviraj and Suraj. Many clap-worthy moments, unpredictable plot twists, piercing questions about the raging issues in the country raised, and the promise of an exciting sequel.

Gives the feel of scattered first half but the wait is worth...Prithvi enters at the crucial juncture. Suraj's character!!

An astutely crafted gripping political-crime thriller drama 3.5/5.

Jana Gana Mana, directed by Dijo Jose Anthony...

Penned by Sharris Mohammad, Bank Rolled by Magic Frames and Prithviraj Production

Starring Prthviraj , Suraj Venjaramood, Mamta Mohandas in lead roles...

Story starts with a murder of a college lady professor of a reputed college and ACP SAJJAN KUMAR played by Suraj Venjaramood takes up the case and unevils the mystery forms the rest part of the movie...

Verdict of the Movie: Blockbuster 5/5 ⭐

1) A story highlights the ruthlessness of the politics which we observe in our daily news but still its not changing....???

2) How the lure of power, generates criminals in the politics thereby changing the definition of a politician and its duties...???

3) When justice is meant to be equal to all then why its not practicable....???

4) Why people who looks upon judiciary as the epitome of justice, comes in the street and take laws in hand??

The movie throws many questions for which somewhere down the line we may or may not have answers but one thing can be said for sure

" Till the time law is a puppet is in the hands of the barbarians the hope of justice will never lighten up"

Talking about the story, screenplay and dialogues- Sharris Mohammad had exemplary penned down the movie as there was unexpected twists, goosebumps moment..Not even a single moment of lagness being experienced

Dijo Jose Anthony classic direction followed by the bunch of talented artists like Prthviraj,Suraj Venjaramood, Mamta Mohandas, Vincy

Suraj Venjaramood as ACP had stolen the show. Prthviraj entry in 2nd half and his performance as a lawyer was astounding...

Mamta Mohandas, Vincy were done 💯 justice to their characters...

Jakes Bejoy music and BGM energized the movie...

Overall a theatrical experience movie.

The movie discussed many relevant and real issues of present day India directly and indirectly. Prithviraj comes back with a strong performance after a short break along with the always consistent Suraj. The dialogue delivery in court scenes were good enough to have goosebumps again and again. A must watch movie.

Watched JGM on Netflix in orig. Malayalam w/Eng. Subs. Several audio portions are in multiple languages like Tamil / English / Kannada.

10 Stars for the important, disturbing mainstream current issues that are "loudly" propounded by Prithviraj as Adv. Aravind in the courtroom scenes ... with the 7-8 star rider that the courtroom scenes are far removed from actual courtroom reality! This is not important if you watch the film as fiction as indeed the Disclaimer proclaims. Nowadays one is used to expecting heavy doses of realism in Malayalam films so in that sense the courtroom scenes are a deviation.

JGM is a crime thriller that starts with a murder of a lady professor. The narration has multiple layers veering towards the convoluted and nothing is prima facie what it appears to be.

I was a tad confused with so many languages in the orig. Audio. In my understanding the film is set in Bangalore where Tamil and Malayalam are also commonly spoken.

As its a thriller, it would not be right in this review to spoil the suspense for other viewers. Suffice it to say that the film is very watchable and rivetting especially once the courtroom dramatics begin.