Jai Bhim turned out to be a hard-hitting, raw and powerful court-room drama. The purpose of cinema is not just to entertain but also educate and empower the audience. The courtroom drama based movies are always engaging as the prosecutor and defendant both fight to solve the case with solid evidences and innumerable witnesses.
Bollywood Films like "Damini", "Jolly LLB","Talvar" "Rustom", "Pink" or even "Section 375" have been immensely successful in keeping the audience engaged with impeccable dialogues and fantastic screenplay but what makes Jai Bhim different is the beautiful message on morality and equality of a tribal woman who fights for the justice of her husband.
Jai Bhim is based on 1995 Habeas Corpus petition in which human right activist cum lawyer K. Chandru ( played by Suriya ), who takes up the case of Irular tribe couple (Rajakannu and Sengeni) where the husband is wrongly convicted by local police for stealing ornaments from village head's house.
As Jai Bhim opens, we see that cops segregating the prisoners based on their caste. Among all the caste, the tribal people becomes the easy target for the cops to clear the pending cases under the influence of their political head. We also see how Rajakannu, the main accused in the jewelry case, is forcibly taken away from his family. The film goes back in the flashback mode where life of the tribal couple is beautiful in the serene village where they hone the skills of catching rat for their bosses. As their life progresses, in one of the event Rajakannu and his brothers are caught for the crime which they did not commit. They go through extreme level of police harassment and torture which will be very hard to digest and is completely raw. Enter Chandra a.k.a Suriya who takes up the case when Sengeni narrates the entire incident and request to help find her husband who as per police, has been absconding from the jail.
Jai Bhim is one such hair-raising film which is definitely difficult to digest as it gives you goosebumps and eye-popping experience. Screenplay is the hero with nail-biting moments. Art direction is fine while Cinematography is excellent. Suriya is a knight in shining armor. Watch out for him in the second half when he questions the witnesses in the courtroom. It is unforgettable performance which should be lauded for its sheer brilliance. Among the actors - Manikandan and Lijomol Jose are mind-blowing with their natural performances. Prakash Raj does well as IG.
Jai Bhim is an experience that needs to be lauded for its impeccable direction, electrifying performances and beautiful message. Excellent 4/5.
