"Jana Nayagan" is a film that tries to bite more than it can chew — it does this so many times that there was a point where I forgot what the profession of Vijay's character, Thalapathy Vetri Kondaan, is. Of course, if it were not for him reminding us, in one scene, that he is an "ex-cop", I would've felt lost. How would I not get distracted with a film and a protagonist that throws so many things at the screen? Unfortunately, not all of it sticks.
H.Vinoth's latest film — and Vijay's last — is basically a three-hour-long campaign video masquerading as a movie. It's a greatest hits compilation of every trademark Vijay-ism and every saviour trope we have seen in South Indian cinema. First off, let me get this out of the way. I haven't seen the original film ("Bhagavanth Kesari"), of which it is a... adaptation is the word, is it? Because I wanted to approach "Jana Nayagan" fresh (there is nothing fresh about it, but you get the idea). If I had seen the Balayya film and been disappointed, I would be dreading the thought of experiencing the same story all over again — for three hours, that too. This is not "The Odyssey", after all, to do that kind of homework. Not worth it.
Three hours. Of which, hardly 10 or 15 minutes gave me a moderate 'high' or did something interesting. The rest of the runtime, I was constantly wishing for it to be over as soon as possible. Look, if this film had been released before Vijay became the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, perhaps it would've carried more weight. But I know for sure that it wouldn't make any difference to me, because what is the point of all that political messaging when the movie forgot the most important thing: Entertainment! Vijay wants to convey so many messages that after a point, you can sense that the film and its makers were basically doing a for-hire job. They don't really care when, and where, the message is placed, or how corny it sounds, as long as it is crammed in there somewhere.
The corniness of it all... Man, at one point Vijay storms into a school address session to tell female students about bad touch. I appreciate the intention of presenting something that even the parents wouldn't have taken the responsibility of, but this lecture comes off looking awkward. There are many more good-intentioned lectures, but when everything is delivered with the subtlety of a stage drama, amplified further by the theatrical performances of the background players, it gets tiresome.
Energy is further drained, in large volumes, when you have Bobby Deol's villain (with an interesting background and motive for turning a villain) unleashing chaos with the help of — are you serious? —robots that don't feel like they are a threat because you've already established that your hero is a god-like man who can strike fear into the heart of all his opponents. Why try to be a Shankar wannabe at a time when even the "Indian" director's recent movies have failed to inspire awe? It doesn't even remotely come close to the greatness of Shankar's early hits.
The adopted daughter angle doesn't stir up any emotions either. Here's the thing: Vijay doing "emotional" never has worked for me. This film could've probably worked wonders if the focus was solely on the surrogate father element, because the compulsion there is very simple and clear.
There's a good backstory for it that involves Gautham Menon's brief appearance. And I also liked the fact that Pooja Hegde isn't written as another flowerpot love interest of the lead character, but rather as a journalist aiding his efforts. (It's not a great role, but it's not bad either.) I mean, where is the time for love when the hero is busy trying to be a political leader? Well, at least we can be happy for Mamitha Baiju who got to share the screen with her idol. And I'm glad that "The Odyssey" is playing in theatres because I need to go watch it again to eliminate the after-effects of "Jana Nayagan".
Film: Jana Nayagan
Director: H. Vinoth
Cast: Vijay, Pooja Hegde, Mamitha Baiju, Prakash Raj, Bobby Deol, Nasser, Sunil
Rating: 1.5/5
