Jigarthanda (2014)

English Translation: Cold Heart
Director: Karthik Subbaraj
Story: Karthik Subbaraj
Cast: Siddharth, Lakshmi Menon, Bobby Simhaa 
Music: Santhosh Narayanan
Time: 171 minutes
Bottom-line: Full of surprises, the main one being Simhaa’s performance!

Despite being more or less a typical masala movie, Jigarthanda somehow races past the other films to emerge as one of my favourites of 2014, because it has not one or two, but loads of surprises! This film by Karthik Subbaraj stars Siddharth, Lakshmi Menon, Bobby Simhaa and Karunakaran in the lead roles. Though the film is a longer than needed, it manages to provide all round entertainment mainly because it combines various genres: gangster, drama, comedy etc.

Karthik (Siddharth) is a short-film director, looking for an opportunity to showcase his talent. In one such reality show for upcoming directors, he gets rejected in the semi-final round, but a producer is willing to produce Karthik’s first feature film. However, the producer demands that the feature should be a gangster film. So Karthik goes in search of an actual gangster, and he comes to know about “Assault” Sethu (Simhaa), a ruthless, psychotic gangster in Madurai, who burnt a person alive for just writing an article about him in a magazine. Karthik decides to make a biopic on Sethu, and he goes to Madurai to do so, with the help of his friend Oorani (Karunakaran). Things go well initially, and Karthik also falls in love with a girl called Kayal (Lakshmi Menon). But soon, Sethu finds out that someone is spying on him, and Karthik finds himself in a deep mess, that could well ruin his life...

Siddharth as Karthik, and Lakshmi Menon
as Kayal

You would have seen posters classifying Jigarthanda as a “musical gangster” film. It is not a musical, in any way; gangster, yes. The film is not mainly about the doings of “Assault” Sethu, but about how Karthik manages to make a film about him. First we see how Karthik tries to get information from Sethu’s powerful but stupid hitmen, and when those fail, he tries to spy on Sethu himself, and this puts him in a very dangerous situation. How he escapes from there and how he is able to use the situation to his advantage is what the film is about. Jigarthanda is much more violent than any other recent Tamil film that I have seen, but that’s part of the thrill. You get the hint that there is going to be a lot of killing from the moment Sethu gives his entry. Spoiler: The twist in the story that Karthik shoots the film unknown to Sethu is similar to the theme of films like Velli Thirai and its original Malayalam movie, but still, till that instant, you would never have guessed that Karthik would do such a thing.

Simhaa as "Assault" Sethu

On the other hand, the film offers you plenty of laughs. The comedy track is not a separate one, but is cleverly interwoven with the main theme. In between the bloody murders you will also find yourself laughing, especially after the entry of the character of the acting coach. The romance between Karthik and Kayal is not given much screen time, though it affects the story. What might be bothering you now is the duration of 171 minutes – I feel that importance has also been given to character development, so the 171 minutes is worth it. A rigorous inspection would probably find about ten minutes of needless scenes, but other than that, the pace never slackens.

As far as acting is concerned, only two words come to mind: Bobby Simhaa. After Soodhu Kavvum and Neram, this is the third film I am seeing him in, and this could be his best performance for a long time to come. “Assault” Sethu could never been as terrifying as this if someone else had acted in place of Simhaa. Towards the end of the film, the nature of Sethu’s character changes, and Simhaa has done extremely well to change his acting style accordingly. Siddharth and Lakshi menon have done a decent job, but could have improved a lot. Karunakaran, in his third or fourth film, does well to provide humour.

Jigarthanda is not a film that will be enjoyed by people of all ages, mainly because of its violence, and not everyone will be amused by the jokes. But nevertheless, if you are willing to see any entertainer, then this would be one of the best movies of 2014 to meet the needs. It may start slowly, but never slows down after that. It is nothing more than a light-hearted, but effective entertainer that gives you enjoyment... just like a cup of jigarthanda!

My Rating: 4/5