Movie Review : Jigarthanda Double X

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The Karthik Subburaj directorial hit screens on November 10th as a Diwali release.


Two politicos ( Shine Tom Chacko  and Ilavarsan) are aiming for the top spot in the state. In their race to the top, they set off a gang war to eliminate the strongholds  of the other's power. 



In this melee, Kirubai ( Sj Suryah), a wrongly accused jailbird is assigned the task of killing dreaded don Allius Caesar ( Raghava Lawrence). In order to do so,  he ends up using a different technique of getting close to him,  and pretends to be a film director, making use of Caesar's penchant to become a big star. 

In the meanwhile, in Caesar's native hillside village, the dreaded Settani ( Vidhu) is unleashing terror, killing off elephants for their tusks. The mountain side villagers are tortured by sadistic cop Rathna ( Naveen Chandra) to get  Settani's whereabouts. 

Does Kiruba succeed in his mission? Does Caesar become a star? Do the innocent villagers get justice? How are all these events and different worlds linked to each other?

Karthik Subburaj succeeds in keeping you glued to the screen right from the word go.  The layers unfold at multiple levels, dealing with gang wars, politcal ambitions, the power of cinema, the exploitation of Nature, the greed for power and land,  all coming together with every loose end tied up in the end, all narrated in a most engaging, many times novel and in several places,  moving,  manner. 

The entire cast has done a superb job, right from the village folk whose simplicity is  moving,  to the leads like Sj Suryah, Raghava Lawrence and Naveen Chandra. Suryah's finely honed performance delivered with a focus on subtlety comes to the fore, while Raghava  delivers a career best act  and together the duo hold your attention taking you on a roller coaster ride. Naveen Chandra as the cruel cop leaves a mark. Watch out for Vidhu's action scenes in the forest as Settani.

The art and camera departments deserve kudos as they take you into the 70's while Santosh Narayan's bgm is rivetting. The dialogues are crisp and engaging as are the references to events of the period.

On the flip side,  the 172 minutes run time maybe a problem for some, with lags in certain places from time to time. 

But with its multiple layers, messages (about Nature, the power of cinema), rivetting performances, gripping screenplay and storyline, Subburaj delivers a quirky, engaging, most engrossing, multi-genre  entertainer.


Rating 3.75 / 5


JIGARTHANDA XX:

CAST:

RAGHAVA LAWRENCE - ALLIUS CAESAR

SJ SURYAH - KIRUBAI (a) RAY DAS 

NIMISHA SAJAYAN - MALAIARASI                                                                                 

ILLAVARASU - KARMEGAM     

NAVEEN CHANDRA -  RATHNA     

SATHYAN - DURAI PANDI     

SANJANA NATARAJAN - PAINGILI      

SHINE TOM CHAKO - JEYAKODI 

ARAVINDH AKASH - CHINNA    

ASHRAF MALLISERI -  KARIYAN    

VIDHU - CHETTANI 

KAPILA VENU -  CHINTHAMANI    

TAMIZH - JOTHI     

THENI MURUGAN - SANGAIYAN     

BHAVAA CHELLADURAI - S.B.CHANDAR    

SHELA RAJKUMAR - LURTHU    

VISHNU GOVIND - MURUGAN 

AADITYA BHASKER - GOVINDHAN 

SUJATHA - LAKSHMI

RAVI MASTER - KADHAR 

MANOJ - KAALAYAN

RATHNAM - PERIYAVAR

MUTHUPANDI -  MAARI

SREENI -  MATHAN 

PALANI -  RAVI 

JAIKUMAR   - SOMU

ASHOK NAVEEN - KATHIR

YAMUNA - RATHI

RADHAKRISHNAN - MURALI 

CREW: 

Produced by  Stone Bench Films Kaarthekeyan Santhanam, Five Star Creations S Kathiresan 

Directed by: Karthik Subbaraj 

Music: Santhosh Narayanan 

DOP : S Thirunavukkarasu

Editor : Shafique Mohamed Ali

Production Designer: T Santanam

Stunts: Dhilip Subbbarayan

Art Directors : Balasubramanian, Kumar Gangappan

Choreography: Sherif M, Baba Bhaskar

Sound Designer : Kunal Rajan

Sound Mix : Suren G

Costume Designer: Praveen Raja 

Makeup: Vinoth S

Costumer : Subier

Lyrics : Vivek, Muthamil R M S

Stills : M Dinesh

VFX Supervisor : H Monesh

Colorist : Ranga

Publicity Designs : Tuney John (24AM)

Executive Producer : Ashok Narayanan M

Associate Producer : Pavan Narendra

Co Produced by Kal Raman, S Somasegar, Kalyan Subramanian

Co Produced by Alankar Pandian

PRO : Nikil Murukan


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