The whole Masala style of filmmaking seems to still reign supremely in Tamil cinema, and “Jigantha Double X”, the latest film by “Cold Heart” director Karthik Subbaraj is a prominent sample, with its larger than life characters, action of absurdly epic proportions, and the plethora of singing and dancing. These, however, are just some of the elements that make the particular title so unique.
Jigarthanda Double X is screening at International Film Festival Rotterdam
In the chaos that is the story of the movie, in 1973, DSP Rathna Kumar is assigned to nab the notorious elephant poacher Shettani in Kombai Kaanai forest. The police torture the local tribals about Shettani's whereabouts, even though they themselves are his victims. In Madras, Kirubakaran “Kiruban” is chosen as the SI in the Tamil Nadu Police but his fate is soon turned into something completely different, as he is caught in a political struggle that has him getting convicted and eventually tasked with killing Alliyus Caesar, the head of the “Jigarthanda Sambhavam Fans Club”. As Ceasar is moving into cinema territory, Kiruban ends up posing as a student and assistant director of Satyajit Ray in order to get close to him, in a series of events that end up with everyone in the jungle.
Evidently, searching for logic and coherence in such a film is a fool's errand, but in this case, it is easy to say ‘who cares?'. “Jigarthanda Double X” starts the fun from the beginning, when Rathma Kumar says, “this is not cigarette, this is ganza” and never actually ceases until the end, where the clash between every one of the all powerful characters gradually takes place. It is not just the fighting scenes in the city, with the ones where Ceasar is using two elephant tusks to beat scores of enemies setting the tone, but the ones in the jungle that truly highlight both the aesthetics and the technical prowess of the movie.
It is in these scenes, where Tirru's cinematography and Shafique Mohamed Ali's editing find their apogee, with the battles with the elephants, the clash between Ceasar and Shettani, and the final ones being truly majestic, with the fun factor definitely going through the roof.
At the same time, and although impression is the definite focus here, Subbaraj also makes a number of rather pointed comments throughout the film. The corruption that torments the country, involving the police (whose brutality is once more presented in the darkest colors), the politicians, and actually the movie industry is quite thoroughly showcased here, with Subbaraj presenting it in a number of levels, essentially in another of the movie's central narratives.
The deliciously over-the-top acting is another of the traits here. Raghava Lawrence as Alliyus “Alliyan” Caesar is excellent as the main medium of the masala element, along Vidhu as Shettani, but it is the measured acting (considering) of S. J. Suryah as Kirubakaran “Kiruban” that grounds the movie. It is also his overall performance, also through his interactions, that allows the comments to be communicated, and provides a break from the whole over-the-top style, at least on occasion.
Not much more to say, if you like your movies fun, f**ked up, and without much nonsense, you would have to try very hard to do better than “Jigarthanda Double X”
