![]() ![]() The bloody violence and casual sexism are appalling and the ‘jokes’ embarrassing. ![]() The pacing is uneven, with the so-called comic sequences and five songs derailing the narrative. Director R T Neason resorts to an obsessive use of freeze frame, slow motion shots and frequent, unnecessary flashbacks in order to tell his unoriginal tale. Overall, this is crude filmmaking, which is sadly synonymous with most Indian commercial potboilers. And in this respect it succeeds, with Keralan film mega-God Mohanlal and Tamil action superhero Vijay’s star power holding it all together. The dosa-thin plot relies heavily on the charisma of its two male superstars. Will Shakthi (Vijay), a gangster turned good cop, be able to reform his wayward foster dad Sivan (Mohanlal), the ruling Godfather of Madurai ‘jilla’ (district) from his evil ways? Set in the temple city of Madurai, this lengthy film adopts that old ‘two characters on opposing sides of the law’ chestnut to milk as much melodrama as possible from its stale storyline. This is slowly changing with big Tamil films like ‘Jilla’ now getting a limited international release (with English subtitles). But unlike Bollywood, which has achieved lucrative global distribution, Kollywood releases remain largely confined to their home state of Tamil Nadu. Based in Kodambakkan, a suburb of Chennai, Kollywood produces more films per year than its Mumbai counterpart. ![]() The ‘masala’ formula may be dying out in Hindi Bollywood films, but it’s flourishing in Kollywood, the Tamil south Indian film industry. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |