'Jagame Thanthiram' review: Subbaraj should have stuck to his gangster theatrics

Netflix initiated a heavy marketing campaign for Karthik Subbaraj's next, Jagame Thanthiram, after securing its distribution rights, given that Dhanush was set to appear in the Russo Brothers' next for Netflix, The Gray Man, starring alongside bigwigs like Chris Evans and Ryan Reynolds. Other reasons for the hype were that Jagame Thanthiram was Karthik Subbaraj's next after his colossal mass entertainer Petta. Dhanush was back after his rather stellar outings in Karnan and Asuran. Movie-goers were promised a bloody, cacophonous gangster thriller with its teasers and trailer. But did the film satisfy these expectations? We find out in this review of Jagame Thanthiram.

At the start of Jagame Thanthiram, we are introduced to the central characters of the film- Sivadoss (Joju George), an Eelam Tamil ganglord operating in London, Peter Sprott (James Cosmo), a white supremacist, affluent crime lord who lobbies for anti-immigration legislation, and finally, Suruli (Dhanush), a local Madurai gangster, who gets involved in a cross-ethnic gang fight. Peter recruits Suruli to infiltrate and dismantle Sivadoss's operations, to eliminate his competition in smuggling weapons to foreign lands. It is only later that Suruli gets to know of Peter's ulterior motives, and how he navigates these changing dynamics forms the rest of the story. Shifting loyalties, betrayal, deceits- Jagame Thanthiram has all the essential ingredients of every gangster film; but it is when it ventures out to serious matters in the latter half of the film, it both steers off course and begins to lose sheen.

Dhanush in Jagame Thanthiram

As a huge fan of gangster crime thrillers and dramas, I would have preferred that Subbaraj rather stuck with his flamboyant gangster aesthetic and narrative. Because this is one genre Subbaraj has proved his mettle in (Jigarthanda, Petta). The initial half, indeed, promised this. We have a very bloody gang war, where both gangs attempted murders on the members of the other. The settings for these confrontations scream choreographic grandeur, with colourfully lit surroundings, extravagant costumes, blazing weapons, and your usual mafia props. The scenes are well shot too, especially one in the first half, where a rotating 360-degree sequence reveals to us the changing power equations and the deceit that led to it. Even the action sequences are choreographed deftly, with the exception of the exploding homemade grenades- honestly, the VFX guys could have done better. 

With all these capable elements in stock, Subbaraj could have easily scored a home run. However, he attempts to emulate the 'saviour persona' previously played, and redundantly, by Rajnikanth and Vijay, into his lead star Dhanush. So, from the Taratino-esque, Ritchie-esque gangster settings, Subbaraj steers the narrative into Atlee, Shankar territory. For this, he adopts the sensitive matter of the 'othering' of Srilankan Tamils in India and abroad and uses this to discuss the bigger and more severe issue of the refugee crisis. Subbaraj writes in an elaborate backstory and adds various characters and arcs that play a significant role in this thematic narrative- BICORE, an anti-immigration reform is often mentioned throughout the film. Peter, who exhibits his own memorabilia of ethnic and racial supremacist icons, is seen lobbying intensively and plots assassinations to enable the implementation of the bill. Attila (Aishwarya Lekshmi), Suruli's love interest (unconvincingly enough), is a refugee from war-stricken Srilanka and finds shelter and belonging in the oddest of people. With all this and more, Jagame Thanthiram, unlike its first half, becomes the tale of a reformed hero, coming to terms with the pressing issues his people face. But this fails to hit the bullseye. The execution is weak and inconsistent, and the politics lack conviction. Subbaraj attempts to bring many political issues into his ambit, but they aren't convincing enough.

Like always, the director scores in his technical domains. Watching this movie on the silver screen would have been more fun, honestly. All the technical aspects have been designed to provide a hair-raising theatrical experience for the viewer. But, unfortunately, this doesn't translate into providing an emotive experience. A major reason for this is that the film is stretched to an exhaustive runtime, rather unnecessarily. Many sequences could have been done away with, instead of deliberately slowing down the pace of the film, in a bid to strike the emotional chord with the audience. 

Dhanush does his best to bring the Maari swagger to Suruli, but that very much killed the essence of the character he should have played. Dhanush is fun to watch, always. But the journey from his grenade-cooking, carefree persona to a saviour of the oppressed has pizzaz, but no gravitas. James Cosmo and Joju George impress as ganglords with contrasting ideologies; both are intimidating in their own manner, let it be the delivery of dialogues and their body language. Joju channels his inner Joseph in some scenes, especially in one of the few handfuls of impactful scenes in Jagame Thanthiram. I was particularly impressed with how Subbaraj handled James Cosmo's character. There have been some disastrous portrayals of English characters in Indian cinema, but this happens to be the best. The dialogues are genuinely Scottish and are efficient in inducing a sense of depth and intimidation to the towering, fearful, xenophobic persona. Aishwarya Lekshmi was perhaps the most disappointing of the lot, with mismatched dubbing and an off-putting performance.

Jagame Thanthiram means 'the world is full of deceits.' But here, the deceptions and betrayals are either far-fetched or easily foreseeable. The only deceit was that Subbaraj's promise of an impactful political-cum-gangster failed, at least on one front.

With an overly ambitious narrative that missed the mark, Jagame Thanthiram happens to be one of Karthik Subbaraj's weakest films. I would rather have him stick to his gangster theatrics, instead of venturing into serious matters that, like Suruli's homemade grenades, lack impact and conviction.

Reviewer^© rating: 2.5 stars 

Runtime: 158 minutes

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