After his exciting debut work 'Pizza', Karthik Subburaj returns with 'Jigarthanda'. It centres on a short film maker who to add realism to his first full length feature film, tracks a dreaded thug's activities, putting his own life in peril. The 'musical-gangster' saga with its stylish presentation, quirky characters, fine performances and loads of humour keeps one entertained, despite a few glitches.
The first half is crisp and moves at a fast pace. It depicts Karthik's experiences as a short film maker and the challenges he faces when he takes up the offer to make a feature film on real-life thug Sethu.
Traveling to Madurai, he stays with buddy Oorny, the duo tracking the activities of the dreaded gangster 'Assault' Sethu. Subburaj's characters are colourful like Oorny, Sethu, his henchmen Rasu, Senthil and Palani. By-standers as they monitor the activities of Sethu and play up to his henchmen, Karthik and Oorny soon find themselves trapped in their own game.
Subburaj has crafted an antagonist more charismatic than the protagonist. In a role challenging and complex, Simha is splendid as Sethu. Exuding the power, ruthlessness and the brute strength of the character, and later his vulnerability too, the actor leaves a powerful impact. It's to Sidharth's credit that despite the script loaded in favour of the antagonist, he makes his presence felt. Sidharth plays Karthik with cool efficiency and gets his space in the latter part. The supporting characters render finely tuned performances, like Karunakaran as Oorny, Sangili Murugan as Palani and Durairaj as Rasu. There is not much space for a heroine in this scenario. A key strength of the film is the cinematography of Gavemic U Ary, which coupled with Santhosh Narayanan's innovative tunes enhance the feel and mood.
There are a couple of twists, which pep up the narration. Some moments remain in the mind for their sheer excellence in execution. Karthik circumventing Sethu's tantrums seems inspired by 'Bowfinger'. The latter part of the camaraderie between Karthik and Sethu does slacken the pace. But what keeps it moving is the humour popping up at regular intervals.
These scenes may seem disjointed, but provide loads of laughs. The whole scenario of Vijay Sethupathi in a cameo seems irrelevant and distracting. The end could have been worked out better. The running time of about 170 minutes could have been trimmed. Slick and stylish in its presentation, 'Jigarthanda' is a refreshing gangster saga.