2023, Tamil, 7.7/10 IMDB, Theaterical Release, Directed by Nelson
Thalaivar performing in a full blown ‘black-comedy’ backdrop, may not be what most of the fans would have been prepared for. It might not tick all the check boxes of the greedy fans, especially when the onscreen mass elements are bartered with other industry’s eminent names. Given all that, Jailer is sure to create a stir among the young mass, who wouldn’t have experienced the ruckus of a brand called ‘Super Star’. A new avatar of Rajini in the Quentin Tarantino’s format takes time to sync in, but it quiet convincingly does, on repeated watch.
It’s a rare phenomenon, when the fan base of an artist encompass a sea of audience, ranging from the 1950’s and 60’s born baby boomers and goes on to Gen X, Y, Z, up to today’s teens, the Gen Alphas. It’s a tight rope walk, choosing and executing a story that would be received well by all age groups and yet thread on newer paths attempting to hook on the prevailing pan-Indian fever, across industries.
Post Linga, the actor is trying his hand on ‘never ventured before’ genres. And he is seemingly surrendering to the new age directors that he chooses to work with, possibly either to continue ruling the box offices as a lead star or truly to succumb to his tantalizing passion for acting, both of which are commendable.
Black comedies work at different levels to different audience and this one is no exception. Stylized violence is a double-edged weapon unless it is backed by a premise that holds the audience through an effective narration. Lokesh’s Vikram proved it saleable to Tamil audience, who had their fair share in making KGF, a ‘popular culture‘. It is a brave attempt by both Nelson and Rajinikanth, given the fierce fan-following of the actor and the mammoth expectation the audience would have had, post – ‘not so popular’ Beast.
The character of Rajini is inquisitively multidimensional, yet very much relatable. His ambitiously etched character is distinct, in spite of being a mixed bag of many roles that he had donned in his career’s magnitude- naive yet powerful, vigilante yet revengeful, sadistic yet righteous. His ‘revenge filled smile’, during many of the overtly violent killings, for a given ‘non-grey’ character, is a new never seen facet of Thalaivar and is amusing to watch him perform with a stern stare. Bold decision it is, to launch the big actor, sans mundane song or fight or even a conflict and to present him coming out of a closed pooja door, in the opening shot.
The director paces the sequences with no breather whatsoever, in an amazingly continuous grind. Just when the ‘grand dad combinations’ with Rithu Rocks fame Rithvik https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5wuaJnklgYnbJIeTVhPWug , puts a smile on the audience faces, the other facet of the hero’s valour follows behind in a jiffy, taking a predictable heroic twist. And before one could inhale the serenity of the fantastic song, ‘Rathamaree’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_gdEzlxKsg in the voice of Vishal Mishra, pronouncing the beautiful bouquet of simple Tamil words, written by Director Vignesh Shivan, there comes an absconding sequence, to snap the audience out of the peace from the song. Within a hour of screen time, we arrive at a convincing climax, leaving the audience with content, for a successful first chapter and in deep curiosity of what may follow.
A compelling narrative with ample incidents that complements the underlying strong story, might easily prove its worth. In Jailer, the solid story’s momentum is often interrupted by sub-plots, such as the heist. Redin Kingsley & co, at times pose a risk of creating a hiatus in Thalaviar’s onscreen time.
There are adequate conflicts in the main plot to captivate the audience and to craft a resolution effectively. But as the director chooses to detour, attempting to encompass few sub-sub-plots, focused on involving other prominent actors, the screenplay tiers the audience of denying Thalaivar’s presence. On painting a larger portrait than what the director had intended to originally, the main crux loses it’s due, at times, letting down the primary plot, in an otherwise tightly packed narrative.
Thalaivar’s versatility has been fed to us through a cocktail of grey shaded for many years. The flashback of his Jailer days, tries hard to surpass and deliver a differently pitched invincible tone, but his previous grey roles, simply seem unconquerable. Nevertheless, the style phrases ‘Aaoo, Saamne Aaoo’ and ‘ Nahin Jamtha’ flexes the audience’s biceps in enthusiasm.
Vinayakan T.K as Varman, does a gritty antagonist role. His idiosyncrasies, his twisted malayalam dialect, his nicotine plaqued teeth, his large brown-lensed eye-balls popping out in anger, seems scarily macho enough. But when the actor’s convincing role faces the charisma of Rajinikanth and also is forced to heavy lift against few other cameos like Sivaraj and Mohanlal and Jackie Shroff, Vinayakan, sadly drains down to repetitive gawks.
Ramya Krishnan’s role is pivotal in escalating the screenplay and in the revelation sequence where Rajini utters, ‘Just push it’ asking her to push the corpse off her lap, the prelude roar, is an ultimate ‘Neelambari’ reversal pay off. Vasanth Ravi’s unfocused eyes, alienated affection, non-cohesive reactions, seems to have justified by the twisted climax. VTV Ganesh sponsors few laughs. But Yogi Babu marks his presence with some unapologetic humour with Thalaivar. The single dance move of Rajini, in the middle of the Tamannaah’s sensuous number, just when it leaves the audience crave for more, Nelson resolutely denies and zooms out on the actor in an extremely long shot. Bravo on breaking decade old templates.
Anirudh’s music elevates the screen presence of Thalaivar and the ‘Jujubee’ song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZnuFdUPIzE by Anirudh and Dhee stands out apart from the crowd’s favorite ‘Hukum’ song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsjRNPrvq6U
The climax twist ends similar to the veteran actor Sivaji Ganesan’s ‘Thangapadhakam’. The chances that Rajini gives to his son, asking, if he has anything to confess to him, is novel, in connoting – ‘To forgive is divine’. And the camera angle gets placed adjacent to the mountainous riverside, where Thalaivar ends up wiping off the blood from his spectacle, beautifully contrasts the ‘Rathamaare’ song’s lyrics. The ‘flick of the spectacle’ which was the ‘cue‘ for many mass moments in the movie, poetically winds up, the last time he flicks it, in ‘detachment‘.