Jogayya – Movie Review

Hat-trick hero Shivaraj Kumar's much-anticipated movie 100th movie Jogayya (Jogaiah), which is a sequel to Jogi, has finally hit the screens. Blockbuster movie Jogi was simply an entertainer, but its sequel is a family drama with a beautiful message for all Kannadigas. Director Prem is once again successful in creating rich production values.

Shivanna's wonderful performance is major highlight of the movie Jogayya. Though it is a family drama, Prem has nicely blended all commercial elements. V Harikrishna's fantastic music, stunning stunts, wonderful costumes, superb art and graphic works, good comedy and dance sequences and beautiful locations are its other attractions. But the movie lacks punch in dialogues, which may disappoint pranksters.

Jogayya begins with Sharath Lohithashwa's prologue about the origin of underworld and ends by creating an awareness in youth about the voting. Although Jogi's mother is dead in the movie Jogi, Prem has managed to include mother sentiment in Jogayya. Shivanna sees mother's love in everyone's mother's eyes and feels it. Moreover, the mother sentiment haunts the audience every now and then throughout the film.

The film criticises the existing political situation of Karnataka. It throws light on Yeddiyurappa's drama of acquiring farmer's land in the name of global investment, the dark future of rowdyism, Kumaraswamy's alleged way of wooing the voters. It also takes heavily on the money minded nature of media.

Director Prem has chosen a nice screenplay and he has got a tight grip on the tempo. His interesting narration makes the audience watch the happenings silently. Usually, Shivanna's movies will have loud cheers throughout the screening. But here viewers can hear it only once at the beginning. There are no cheers in the middle and the climax of the movie makes the audience forget their whistling and shouting and keep brooding over the political situation in Karnataka and their folly.

The movie starts where Jogi ended and hero Jogi a.k.a Madesha has become Jogayya (Shivaraj Kumar) here. He has left rowdyism and has been staying at a place in North Karnataka for three years. He is looking after cattle at a rich man's house. His master's daughter (Sumit Kaur Atwal) secretly develops love for him and it is she who gets him released from Jail. What happens next when he comes out of prison will form an interesting part of the movie and it should be watched onscreen.

After the movie Jogi, Shivaraj Kumar once again sets out as the showman in Jogayya. He fights, dances, makes the audience cry and laugh and does everything to impress them. Finally, he becomes successful in his attempt. Sumit Kaur Atwal has less scope in the movie, but she has used it to prove her mettle. As lawyer, Pooja Gandhi has also done a good job. Other aritstes have also delivered wonderful performance.

Jogayya has sound technical elements and the production of the songs is the major highlight of the movie. The songs themselves are worth of your money. V Harishkrishna has composed beautiful music for all the songs, which are catchy, trendy and good to listen. The picturisation, lyrics, costumes, art direction, graphic work, locations and lighting are simply superb. Editing and other technical stuffs are also commendable.

The movie has been made wonderfully, but it does not mean that there are no drawbacks in it. The movie has several lapses and inconsistencies, which go unnoticed due to the interesting narration of the story. Overall, it is a perfect entertainer movie, which should not be missed out this weekend. Watch it in theatres.

Producer: Rakshita Prem

Director: Prem

Cast: Shivaraj Kumar, Summit Kaur Atwal, Pooja Gandhi and others

Music: V Harikrishna