FILM: JAGADAM
CAST: RAM, ISHA, PRADEEP RAWAT, SARANYA, RAGHU BABU, CHITRAM SRINU, TANIKELLA BHARANI, PRAKASH RAJ, A.S. RAVI KUMAR CHOWDARY, TELANGANA SAKUNTHALA and OTHERS…
CINEMATOGRAPHY: RATHNAVELU
EDITING: SRIKAR PRASAD
ART: A.S.PRAKASH
STUNTS: VIJAY
MUSIC: DEVI SRI PRASAD
LYRICS: CHANDRA BOSE, SAHITHI
PRODUCER: ADITYA BABU
BANNER: ADITYA ARTS
STORY, SCREENPLAY, DIALOGUES, DIRECTION: SUKUMAR
RELEASE DATE: MARCH 16, 2007
CBFC RATING: U/A
STORY:
The story, plot or the concept (whatever you call it…) is clearly inspired by CITY OF GOD (2002-03), a Brazilian film adapted by Bráulio Mantovani from the novel CITY OF GOD (1997) written by Paulo Lins. It was nominated for 4 Academy(OSCAR) awards. I don’t mind film makers adapting screenplays or stories and improving on them or adapting them to their sensibilities. But that should happen with a caveat that they are duly credited or at least get a mention by the film makers somewhere during the promotion of the film… But this doen’t happen with JAGADAM.
Jagadam is all about the animal instincts in human beings which should be suppressed for a society to progress. Story is all about how a youngster Srinu(RAM) gets fascinated by the Power of Gundagiri.
It all starts with petty offenses, only to become intoxicated with the power to beat up others… From then on he wants and dreams to become a Rowdy Sheeter like Manikyam(Pradeep Rawat), a feared hooligan turned politician. He is in total awe with Violence. He maintains his own loyal gang.
The first half of the movie handles the rising part of how Srinu stands up to Manikyam who incidentally is his mentor.
The second half of the movie is all about the conflict between the two rivals that is Srinu and Manikyam.
The climax of the movie is how Srinu due to the unforeseen circumstantial events tries to quit the Rowdyism…
Excuse me! I don’t want to be the one who spoils your fun by revealing the turning points in the movie…
TECHNICAL DEPARTMENTS:
CINEMATOGRAPHY: This job is done by Rathnavelu. In fact he steals the show on the screen. Rathnavelu is so stunning in his craft that the director Sukumar didn’t needed to take his troupe on a foreign trip for any song. The camera work is slick, stylish, aesthetic and breath-taking (help me out here… I am running out of adjectives…).
ART: Art director A.S.Prakash did a great job in erecting the sets of the Maisamma center.
EDITING: Editor Srikar Prasad did a marvellous job in maintaining the tempo of the movie.
SCREENPLAY: Sukumar wrote the screenplay of the movie which is so gripping that even when the movie falters on a couple of occasions… the screenplay comes for the rescue and lets you continue to enjoy the movie. The screenplay of this movie is like a text book for the young writers, directors of the industry… In fact, the so called creative, senior and aesthetic directors who take the gullible Telugu audiences for a ride should take special classes under Sukumar in this department.
STUNTS: Vijay has made good use of Ram with creative stunt work. Stunts are really awesome, elevating the hero’s image as was required in this movie. I thank him for not using wire work (Blue rope) where not needed making the stunts look near natural…
LYRICS: Lyrics of this movie are by Chandra Bose, Shakthi and Sahithi. They are perfectly in sync with the movie and elevate the quality of the audio to a greater extent.
SINGERS: Devi Sri Prasad sung the “Violence is a passion” number with much aplomb. He gave the soul to this movie through this song. Mamatha Mohan Das once again rocks with “36-24-36″. She is really a singer who transcends the feel of an item number and gives it a mainstream appeal. Tippu, Priya with “5 feet 8 inches”, Ranjith with “Everybody rock your body” and Raquib Alam with “Mudhante chedha” did marvellous jobs…
MUSIC: Music is the sweetest and strongest department after Screenplay in this movie. Devi Sri Prasad once again gave his career defining work in this movie.
PERFORMANCES:
When it comes to performances in this movie, I can safely and in fact emphatically say that they are career defining for everyone in the movie. But only one person’s career will be defined with failure… The person I am talking about is the heroine of the movie Isha.
Sukumar’s lack of taste in picking heroines is once again exposed after Arya. Just don’t get fooled as I had been by the photographs of Isha. She is so bad looking that every expression that she enacts make her look constipated. She is bearable when she doesn’t act… I mean when she is expressionless. In fact the weakest link of the movie is of the heroine’s character, which is so badly etched out that she looks like a perpetual whore… Just to give you all a hint, she falls in love with the hero because he hugs her tight in a dark street… late in the night…
Now bad things aside, about Ram who plays Srinu… simply power packs himself with so much energy that exudes class and appeals masses. He is undoubtedly one of the best dancers of Tollywood. The choreography is refreshingly new… So, Ram’s every move makes us jump out of our seats to dance… He acts superbly. Now it is clear that all the hamming(over acting) in Devadasu came forth because of that movie’s director Y.V.S.Chowdary. With his restrained and electrifying performance Ram stands out in this movie… But Ram has to work on his body like Allu Arjun did if he wants to continue doing such challenging and mature roles. He has to improve his diction to make his dialog delivery much more clear and smooth.
Pradeep Rawat and A.S.Ravi Kumar Chowdary were very apt and acted well as gangsters. Tanikella Bharani as M.L.A., Telangana Sakuntala as Corporator and Prakash Raj as A.C.P. were apt and acted perfectly well for their roles.
Raghu Babu and Saranya who played as parents to the hero acted marvelously. Their performances just exudes class. The kid who played as hero’s brother acted very well.
Overall the movie is an ensemble of great acting except for the heroine.
DIRECTION:
Director Sukumar, after this movie can easily be considered one of the best technicians in our country. Some high points in the narration of the movie…
The film starts with the most innovative title display on the Telugu screen in recent times…
The opening scene where the hero standing atop a hill, overlooking the city starts narrating the story… is simply superb.
In a scene where the leader of the hero’s gang backs out and the hero comes front is shown with shadows which exudes class and elevates heroism.
In yet another scene … Manikyam, the villain, starts slapping the land owner and the hero starts pleading the villain to talk directly to him… and when the villain doesn’t oblige, hero gives him a push resulting the villain’s fall in a pool of mud and hence the rivalry begins…
But Sukumar failed to concentrate more on the heroine’s character as she plays at least a connecting role in the movie. Irrespective of the fate of this movie, Sukumar has one of the brightest futures in the industry…
To read KALCHAs prediction on Jagadam’s box-office fate click HERE.
READERs RATING:
