Chennai
The film Jarugandi begins with an ambitious middle-class youngster Sathya (Jai) starting a business of his own using forged documents. Knowing this, inspector Bose Venkat threatens Sathya and his friend Paari (Daniel Annie Pope) demand a sum of 10 lakhs to close this forgery case. Circumstances force these youngsters to kidnap a 20-year-old girl, Keerthi (Reba Monica) and save themselves from the cop.
However, trouble begins when the girl escapes, and Sathya’s friend Paari (Daniel Annie Pope) gets trapped in hands of a mafia group. While this forms for a okayish first half, the second half gets engaging when the makers reveal the girl’s backstory. The director transports us to the world of fraudsters and human trafficking. Eventualy, the film is about how the two friends take on the dons and expose them to the world. While the film has some delightful moments and engaging scenes, this kind of a plot demands powerful writing for the audience to sympathise with the characters.
There is a scene in the film, where the Sathya (Jai) and Keerthi (Reba) get trapped in the human trafficking group with no chance of escapeing. Instead of worrying about their plight, we wait for the film to get over soon. Malayalam girl Reba Monica, the heroine of the film, doesn’t have much screen time in the first half, but completely overshadows other characters in the second half. Her acting is subtle and she does a neat job in her Tamil debut. She is someone to look out for.
After doing films like Balloon and Kalakalappu 2, it’s refreshing to watch Jai in a film that has a few mass hero moments. While Daniel Annie Pope entertains us in most of the scenes with his expressions and one-liners, comedian Robo Shankar does it in parts. Most of his acts seem to be similar to his earlier films. Bobo Shashi, the composer of the film, helps the movie a notch higher, with his energetic background score. Overall, a better writing and intense screenplay would have helped the film.
Jarugandi
Directed by: AN Pitchumani
Composed by: Bobo Shashi
Cast: Jai, Reba Monica John, Amit Tiwari, Daniel Annie Pope, Robo Shankar, Ilavarasu, Bose Venkat, G. M. Kumar, Jayakumar
Synopsis: An ambitious middle-class guy and his friend kidnaps a girl for money and save themselves from a police case. Trouble begins when the girl escapes leaving them in the hands of a mafia group. Stars:*****
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