Jana Gana Mana

The second film by Dijo Jose Antony and he has improved a lot. But one of the things that can be noticed in his first feature Queen itself is that he wants to talk about important things and let the emotion of it spread to the audience and it should be conveyed to every single one of them. He's ready to sacrifice some logic and reality for these emotions. He makes it a point to present these issues on the nose and as dramatic as possible. Queen became a big commercial success for such a small movie even though the critics saw all the problems that were definitely in it. But still, it can't be denied how successful it was at what it set out to be.

Jana Gana Mana works very similarly in that regard. There are many points in the film which are exaggerated just for the dramatic effect and unless you are able to be accepting the emotional side and not the real world logic, especially in the courtroom scenes, the movie will be a disappointment.

Despite all these issues, the movie is grounded in almost every other aspect. The top-notch acting, specifically by the two leads and the plot itself makes it a compelling watch. Touching upon all the important issues faced by the common people in the country, touching too many nerves due to which the movie ended up banned in a lot of North Indian states, the movie is a bold statement about the state of the country.

The way the movie moved through the two protagonists through the two halves was very cleverly done so that the paradigm shift really allows the audience to see the broader picture. The way they made the audience root for things is really commendable as it shows exactly how the world works and why it shouldn't be that way. The movie is made in a way so that its messages can be reached everywhere and also makes sure to teach them to be able to question things. For a movie that is gonna be labelled as something that doesn't consider the audience intelligent enough to comprehend everything unless spelt out, it makes the exact case of why the audience around the world isn't really collectively intelligent and even those who ask for the intelligent narration won't be able to deny those facts.

There would be a kind of hate that would be easily faced by this movie. The way the movie dealt with those political aspects is enough for the filmmakers to be proud about it due to the truth in the fiction.

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!

The story is all about depiction of what is happening in today's India. Screenplay was very good. Then and there lag is there but overall the movie is good. Actors acted so well. Movie exactly shows how police, press and the judiciary system in India brainwash lower class people. Young people must watch the movie.

The characters in this film are solid, each and everyone nailed it to the core. The first half starts a bit confusing but later it catches up the pace once Suraj appears on the screen, to an extent he stole the show with a decent interval bang. The second half of the film is terrific, Prithviraj was just tremendous. The last 45 minutes of the movie are an absolute treat with lots of enormous twists and turns. More than all that this film discusses the current political situation in India and most events that take place in this movie is based on true incidents. A film that I personally believe that should be watched at least once.

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.