Rating: 2 stars
After a disaster like ‘Chandramukhi 2’, young actor Raghava Lawrence returns with ‘Jigarthanda DoubleX’ and proves his acting mettle as a dreaded gangster. He is known to the Telugu audience as a fearful youngster who turns ferocious after being possessed by evil spirits in films like ‘Ganga’ and ‘Kanchana 2’. This time, he turns into a fiery tribal man who is merciless and tough. Followed by another elegant performance of actor S J Suryah who matches strides with Lawrence and both carry the film on their shoulders, which is otherwise a predictable gangster film inspired by ’Dirty Carnival and Clint Eastwood movies. However, the biggest drawback of the film is its duration and few slow-paced scenes which makes the film more predictable and a bit boring.
Director Karthik Subbaraj who proved his talent with new-age movies like ‘Pizza’ and “Jigarthanda’ has again showcased his talent by dishing out gangster movies loaded with guns, hats, and stylized action and also delivering a message on the environment. It is a cinema within cinema and a unique attempt like his previous film ‘Jigarthanda’ which enthralled viewers for making gangster movies in a different way 9 years ago. The track of a hero-politician (Tom Chacko) who dreams of becoming CM and urges his brother and cop to decimate all his rivals which includes Raghava Lawrence also nicely jells with the main story.
The first part was about an aspiring filmmaker trying to make a film based on a gangster. Here we have a pretending filmmaker penetrating into the inner circle of a gangster on the pretext of making a film. His real intention is to kill him. The director expresses his passion for cinema and he is largely inspired by Hollywood cowboy films and nicely used them in this movie and it works well.
Coming to the story, Raghava Lawrence, a criminal, wants to become the first dark-looking hero in Kollywood, and the film is set in the 1970s. Despite many discouraging him, Lawrence has resolved to turn into a hero and begins to listen to stories from directors. He is impressed with director S J Suryah who asks him to do his real-life story and Lawrence agrees. How about in the course of the shooting and how Lawrence tackles his real-life adversaries from the rest of the story?
Lawrence is surely back with a bang but from now onwards he has to pick the right scrips to sustain this movement. After ‘Mark Antony’, director-turned-actor S J Suryah comes with a rocking performance and holds the interest of the audience in the snail-paced first part, while the second half picks up a bit and the climax portions very captive. Naveen Chandra, Tom Chacko, and Nimisha play their roles with ease. Cinematography by Thiru is good for his mood lighting and for capturing some picture-perfect visuals, while music by Santhosh Narayana works in parts.
Undoubtedly, Karthik Subbaraj belongs to a new breed of filmmakers and he is surely treading his own path with films like 'Pizza' and "Mercury' and also dabbled with the action film 'Petta' with Rajinikanth. Nonetheless, he is not dishing the usual stuff and trying to make his own mark by exploring different genres, despite a few flops. Good going indeed.
