Jarugandi directed by AN Pitchumani stars Jai, Daniel Annie Pope and Reba Monica John in the lead. The film is Pitchumani’s directorial debut and has been produced by Badri Kasthuri and actor Nithin Sathya who was seen in films like Chennai 28, Vasool Raja MBBS, etc.
Jarugandi, an unusual choice of name for this Tamil film, is an action-comedy drama. The film is off to a shaky start with inadequate character establishment. Jai plays Sathya a smart, young “lower-middle class” man with a knack for stealing cars. The film begins with Jai’s voiceover explaining how lower-middle class people have it hard in the society. How he overcomes life’s challenges to make it big forms the rest of the story.
Daniel plays Paari, Jai’s friend who helps him make a quick buck with the help of a fraudster. The film’s plotline lacks a proper story. It travels all over the place with too many characters introduced during its first half. If you’re able to sit through this portion, then you might be able to get through its second half which feels a tad bit better.
Jarugandi like the meaning of its name (move on), feels very rushed. The first half especially makes little sense with too many knots that seem unnecessary.
Sathya and Paari get muddled up in a trafficking plot that involves the film’s heroine, Keerthy (played by Reba Monica). Robo Shankar plays Gajendra whose character was primarily written to elicit a few laughs, which it barely manages.
The songs in the film do not blend in so well. There’s also the cliched travel montage song. The comedy in this action-comedy drama is very feebly done. The gender queer bartender has been written solely for crass jokes and double-meaning lines, and it is high time Tamil movies stopped writing such characters.
Cinematography in this film might make you feel like you’re watching a television soap. The action blocks, however, have been done well.
The film leaves no moment for you to connect with its characters. You do not empathise with their problems mainly because all of it seems superficially done. Poor writing is its undoing.
Thankfully there are no deliberately done duets or drunk dancing songs. Jarugandi’s villains are not smart enough either. The film’s dialogues too lack imagination. Jarugandi is a film you can actually skip.
Disclaimer: This review was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the film. Neither TNM nor any of its reviewers have any sort of business relationship with the film's producers or any other members of its cast and crew.