<i>Jagadam</i> Review

Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Unnecessary hype dampens audience mood
Sukumar gave a big hit like Arya and Ram's debut film Devadasu was also a big hit. The film starring the duo started creating a lot of hype right from the start of the shooting. In fact, the storyline is based on the theory of Sigmund Freud - 'There is a beast mentality in every human being. It generally remains suppressed but emerges from within depending upon the situation and the condition.'

Sreenu (Ram),unlike other children, enjoys when he sees a person beat up others. This is because, during his childhood, his father Macha Balaram (Raghubabu) used to beat the doorframe to console him whenever he fell on the floor. Moreover, he adores Manikyam (Pradeep Rawat), who is a goonda, as everyone is afraid of him. He enjoys the frightened look in others and himself feels like a hero. Though he behaves like a ruffian, he realizes that one should have a strong backup or support of a politician or a big dada, who has a gang.

Once the police catch Sreenu and his gang - Vali (Chitram Sreenu), Chetak Raj, Nampally Satti, Dastagiri and Nalla Mallesh. At the same time, they also arrest some others. But the police officer Qader (Narsing Yadav) releases them as Laddu (AS Ravikumar Choudary) and his associate of Manikyam gang come to the police station. Then Sreenu pleads with Laddu to help him meet Manikyam. He appeals to Manikyam to let him join his gang.

At this juncture, Sreenu falls in love with Subbulakshmi (Isha Sahani). Following Subbulakshmi's appeal, Sreenu agrees to settle a land deal which is under illegal occupation. However, the land is under the occupation of Manikyam's gang member Sudhakar (Devicharan). As he has given a word to his lover, Sreenu decides to oppose Manikyam and complete the settlement. In the melee, Sreenu pushes Manikyam aside. As Manikyam has just entered politics, he doesn't take any drastic step and withdraws. This makes Sreenu a hero, who starts doing settlements on his own.

Once, a journalist takes Sreenu to a industrialist (Prithvi), who says that his quarry has been illegally occupied by one Yadav (Satyaprakash), who has support from Manikyam. Sreenu vows to fight with Manikyam to prove his supremacy. As things go out of control, Sreenu decides to kill Yadav. However, being a good natured young man, he is unable to kill him. However, his younger brother, who also likes indulging in fights, takes the gun and kills Yadav. He then escapes.

Sreenu, in order to save his brother from Manikyam's gang appeals to the police commissioner (Prakash Raj) to mediate. Though Manikyam agrees to the mediation, his men kill Sreenu's brother. This irks Sreenu who severely thrashes Manikyam, but spares him from being killed. However, when Manikyam attacks him, he kills him in self-defence.

The film ends on a happy note, with Sreenu giving up dadagiri and leading a normal life.

Plus Points

The tunes given by Devisri Prasad are excellent and they have become popular among the youth. Ram also shows considerable ease in dance sequences and a couple of songs have been choreographed superbly, while another couple of songs are just about okay.

Another major plus point in the film is the cinematography by Ratnavelu. His skills lift the mood of audience in various scenes. Ram's performance in climax scene is another highlight of the film.

Minus Points

The tempo in the film is totally missing in the second half. The twist in the climax is quite dramatic.

Even as the director and producer continue to say that the film will create a new trend in action films, the film has nothing but unnecessary action scenes. Moreover, the director fails to establish the love equation between the hero and heroine as well as the villainy by Pradeep Rawat convincingly.

Though she looks glamorous, Isha fails to enact the mischievous expressions (like the one shown by Genelia in Bommarillu).

Conclusion:

The director fails in narrating the subject in exacly the way he intended to. As has been said in the intro, the entire film is based on a particular theory and this gets established in the first half itself. The director, in a bid to extend the film beyond two hours, tries to beat around the bush and finally ends up leaving the audiences bored.

If the audience has the patience to watch the climax, the film might run for at least five to six weeks.

The item songs by Monalisa, Madhu Shalini and Zobyn Khan (sister of Mumaith Khan) are just about okay.

A film which had a lot of hype surrounding it,proves to be a big dud.

Cast: Ram, Isha Sahani, Prakash Raj, Pradeep Rawat, AS Ravikumar Choudary, Tanikella Bharani, Satya Prakash, Raghubabu, Chitram Sreenu, Duvvasi Mohan, Dasanna, Venu, Dhanraj, Santosh, Giri, Jayanth, Yogesh, Telangana Sakuntala, Saranya, Suchitra, Lirisha, Nihal, Monalisa, Madhu Shalini, Zobyn Khan and others.

Credits:
Cinematography - Ratnavelu
Editing - Srikara Prasad
Action - Vijay
Music - Devisri Prasad
Presenter - Laxmi
Producer - Adityababu
Story, dialogues, screenplay and direction - Sukumar.

Banner: Aditya Arts

Released on : March 16, 2007

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