Written and directed by TJ Gnanavel, Jai Bhim, a social drama having Suriya in a key role had a direct OTT release on Amazon Prime Video today. Let’s analyze it.
Story: In a false robbery case, a snake catcher Rajanna(Manikandan) will be cornered by the cops. As Rajanna goes to some other place for daily work, the police will start torturing his family members. Left with no option, Rajanna’s wife Sinna Thalli(Lijo Mol Jose) approaches lawyer Chandru ( Suriya). The rest of the story is about how Chandru continues the legal battle against higher caste dominance in society in the rescuing process of Rajanna and his family.
Performances: Suriya plays the role of lawyer Chandru and did his part perfectly. His composed and settled acting in the courtroom brings a lot of depth to the proceedings. In general, we see some over-the-top aggressive nature in reel life lawyers but Suriya looked very focused on his issue-centric arguments. The confidence in his face while performing the role adds more authenticity to the proceedings.
Manikandan and Lijo Mol Jose are apt in their roles as downtrodden. Their acting brings a realistic flavor to the film.
Prakash Raj and Rao Ramesh did a decent job in police boss and senior lawyer roles respectively. Rajisha Vijayan is just okay in her role which has a lesser screen time. Other artists who did supporting roles are alright in their roles.
Technicalities: Music by Sean Roldan registers well. Though the film has a few content-driven songs, his background shines throughout.
Writing and Telugu version dialogues are good. Telugu version dubbing for Suriya and other actors is done perfectly.
SR Kathir’s cinematography is top-notch as he captured the film brilliantly with his framing. The 90s setup created for the film is also presented neatly. Production design for the movie is done in an impressive manner.
Analysis: Director TJ Gnanavel came up with a burning issue in the early 90s time period. His story has soul and wrote the scene order nicely by not incorporating any commercial elements.
Though the effortless acting from Suriya, Lijo Mol Jose, and other actors explores the emotional content in an effective manner, the movie runs on a slow note which may not find an instant connection.
To Summerize, Jai Bhim is an engaging social drama that has solid content and is executed in a proper manner. Though the film lacks a racy screenplay, outstanding performances for the actors make the film a must-watch social drama.