Jigarthanda - De sang froid

Karthik Subbaraj who received unprecedented acclaim when he dished out Pizza (2012) as his directorial debut has served us a delicious drink in his second outing. Jigarthanda tells the story of a short filmmaker Karthik (Siddharth) who comes to Madurai to develop a script for his debut feature based on the life of real life don "Assault" Sethu (an excellent Simha). He settles down with his friend Oorani (Karunakaran) and attempts to profile the life of this ruthless gangster for his movie.

The duo follow several leads and covertly try to get inputs from various associates of Sethu including some of his goons as well as Kayal (Lakshmi Menon) whose mother is an Idly vendor with Sethu as a regular customer. Though Kayal is smitten by him and even proposes to him unilaterally, Karthik, with his single minded intention of making his movie, merely pretends to be in love with her to access details about Sethu in the same vein that he tries to leverage the weakness of others.

After a series of quirky and hilarious twists, Karthik and his friend land in a monumental mess when they are caught red handed by Sethu spying on his activities. Sethu presumes them to be working with the police who want to finish him in an encounter. What follows is a roller coaster ride that keeps the viewer guessing with several surprises fused with the process of how Karthik manages to make his debut feature.

Jigarthanda proves unequivocally that Pizza was not a mere flash in the pan and Karthik Subbaraj is an auteur to watch out. His skills in cleverly weaving a metamovie on the travails of wannabe directors within the fabric of what is a gangster flick on an apparent level are praiseworthy. The narrative is embellished with Tarantinoesque flourishes of raw violence and oodles of comedy even in sequences where they are least expected.

While Siddharth is impressive as the opportunist aspiring director with a singular focus who pays scant regard to manipulating others for his goals, Lakshmi Menon is convincing in an unconventional, albeit minor part of a smitten lover who could throw a spanner at her beloved's dreams when spurned. But, Jigarthanda belongs to Simha who nails the part of the dreaded psychotic don, "Assault" Sethu, oozing terror from his every pore. He straddles the entire emotional spectrum of this layered character from being ruthless and menacing to being darkly hilarious. His performance is the lynch pin of the movie and deserves several plaudits and awards that are sure to come his way. Karunakaran, as Oorani, is impeccable in his comic timing and goofy expressions.

Karthik Subburaj's detailing is impressive - be it the pulse of the city that never sleeps (Madurai) or in the eccentricities of the minor characters. Santhosh Narayanan's score is brilliant and accentuates the intensity the proceedings. Although the songs may not be stand out chartbusters, that blend beautifully with the flow of the narrative. Cinematography by Gavemic U Ary captures the proceedings beautifully in resplendent tones.

Despite its self proclaimed tag of a "musical gangster" movie, Jigarthanda's ambitions are much more chimeric. It is also an effective dark comedy, a con movie and above all, an incisive satire on the state of Tamil cinema where the constraints of commercial viability continue to choke the creativity of aspiring filmmakers.

Yet, at a deeper level, it is the metamovie where Karthik Subbaraj, appears to convey, through his namesake protagonist, through what could well be his personal experiences before succeeding in Kollywood, that despite these challenges, all is not lost for the filmmakers who could master these murky waters if they dare to remain steadfast in their focus and could smartly use their sails to navigate to the shores of success.

The movie is not without its flaws, especially the length which clocks a little less than three hours, resulting in some bit of drag in the second half. While it could certainly be trimmed by at least fifteen minutes, I felt it would be more of nitpicking as what was on offer was definitely delectable.

Wildly imaginative, unpredictable and laced with loads of humour, this layered multi-ingredient beverage is a YUMMY offering from Karthik Subbaraj. A delectable & praiseworthy dessert to follow that delicious Pizza which whets our appetite for even more... Bring it on !

The reason I watched this movie is for my favorite Bobby Simha and Karthick Subbaaraj. I stunned with the performance of Simha, he is really amazing and awesome. I am dare to say Simha is going to be finest actor in Indian cinema if he is continue to do the different character as he did so far. Even I am dare to suggest tamil old actors like Rajini, Kamal, Ajith, Vijay to learn what is real acting from Simha. Simha is really great great. Am damn sure he is one of the best actor in Indian cinema. Particularly I am mesmerized when he change over his acting from don to normal man and normal man to don, especially when he ask Siddarth with knife in his hand, "pakathula vandhavudanae bayam poiduchaa", this performance is epic. And another grooving performance is, when Simha receives credits from the child of Soundhar, Simha's eyes itself conveyed the movie climax, thats why director orchestrate all the dialogue in gibberish in the climax, only few actors can do that performance and only good movie lovers can understand what Simha is expressing.

Apart from performance all credits goes to director. After Pizza the expectation was much higher on Jigarthanda. But after Jigarthanda what Karthick is going to do. lets wait and watch. Hope Kartick will come with another surprise in his next movie. But am damn sure, Karthick himself can not make flick like this again, it is a once in a life time script. I admire Karthick more than Bala, Manirathnam. Because Karthick is more intellectual director than them.

And last credits goes to composer Santhosh and cinemotographer gavemic u ary. Hats off to them. Great work.

Hi Folks,

To tell about the film, scene by scene detailing of screenplay, dialogue, songs & BGM all were mixed with the right proportion.

To be honest to myself, Movie was expanded to almost nearing to 3hrs..!! But though the drag in time was not an issue as the twist & turns in the plot of the movie was made the audience glue to their seats...!!

The cast & crew made a good & best..!! efforts on acting, stunts, cinematography, Music, & the Director - Karthik's touch to the script made the movie a TOP NOTCH...!!

I can proudly tell as a fan of Tamil cinema....!!! That Tamil Cinema (aka) Kollywood is globally getting established well due to these kind of Offbeat movies which works out well both box office & as well as 'Award Winning..!!"

Last but not least...! Kudos to "Jigarthanda Team"

Thanks for making Rs.120/- a worth spent..!!

Jigarthanda is Story telling at its best, you just cannot miss a single frame of this artistic cinema for three reasons

1. I can merely remember any movie which had so many twists lately, if you liked Pizza, trust me, this movie is hundred times better than Pizza

2. This movie is artistic, in terms of how clean shots are engaged with some classic background music, there are some scenes which comply with the BGM, so much so, it takes them to a completely different level.

3. It's all about ACTING, actors in this movie do pure justice to their roll , Specially Simhaa, he nailed the character , and definitely garners admiration from audience.

I dare not talk about story line, in the end, have fun this week watching this splendid piece of cinema, brings roof down with laughter's in some scenes.

AMAZING JIGARTHANDA !!

For now, the first movie review I am giving in a written text. I was badly in need to say someone about the movie Jikardhanda and here goes.

I never know it tasted , but this movie means it should be awesome. When there were too much of commercial movies with same kind of punch dialogs, mass hero entry, unwanted songs and hero bringing the Villain down this movie Stands as an unique piece. You will never see a "already- seen- this-scene" effect.There are unexpected twists back to back. A gangster movie with perfect characterization and apt choice of characters.You could see most of Black and Yellow shades scene on the screen which highlights the City Madurai. A Villain can be a hero is the theme and this couldn't have been perfectly done by anyone else other than Simha. His Madurai slang and Body language depicted how a real gangster would look like.He lived the character. Siddarth the so called hero also played his part well. All actors have put on so much of effort to drag you inside the movie without making us give even a small neck turn. The first half is more of Hollywood Style and Black Comedy. Second half is full of humor which at times makes you miss a wit while you were hell laughing. Santhosh Narayanan BGM and Songs gave the life to the movie. He is one of the best music director of India in the recent. Karthik has given a treat better than Pizza. Everyone will surely like his South Indian delicious. Hats off. Overall worth the cost with 10 on 10 and yes you can pay more than that. Yes I am going to watch again.