Natural Star Nani’s Tuck Jagdish, directed by Siva Nirvana, has been released on Amazon Prime directly, not opting for a theatrical release, due to the coronavirus pandemic. This is the second film between Siva and Nani, after Ninnu Kori, and the second film of Nani’s that’s opting for a direct OTT release, after his 25th film V, directed by Mohan Krishna Indraganti.
Story: Tuck Jagdish revolves around the protagonist Jagdish (Nani), and his desire to unite his family after his father Adiseshulu Nayudu (Nassar), who is a big landlord in Bhudevipuram. The family is happy and united until Naidu’s death, after which there are disputes over property and assets, as Jagdish’s older brother Bose (Jagapathi Babu) refuses to share the property. Bose, in turn, joins hands with rival Veerendra Naidu (Daniel Balaji), leading to more trouble. The rest of the story forms how and if Jagdish manages to solve all the problems and bring his family back together.
Performances: Nani gives a decent performance as Jagdish, as always, and while he carries the film on his shoulders and shines in some parts of the film, especially in the climax, he could have done much better. Jagapathi Babu carries his character very well, and shows all of the variations perfectly, hence delivering a convincing performance. Daniel Balaji returns to the Telugu screen after a long time, and it’s a delight to watch him. Ritu Varma has little to do in the film but looks good throughout the film, while Aishwarya Rajesh got a role that’s worth mentioning. The rest of the cast do well in their roles.
Technicalities: From the film, it is clear that the producers of Tuck Jagdish didn’t back down in any area, with the visuals looking rich and colourful, thanks to the artsy work of Prasad Murella, the cinematographer for the film. A couple of songs are good to listen to, and the rest of them just flow by. Gopi Sunder’s background score is a huge letdown for the film, not doing justice to the scenes, and could have been a lot better.
Analysis: Tuck Jagdish doesn’t offer the audiences any new story, and serves the same old story in a new way, with new actors and characters. Some sequences are hard to believe in the film, making you wonder about the story development. Tuck Jagdish is a lot different from the expectations people have had on it, and while the film looks like a regular masala film, it is anything but, and not in a very good way.
On the whole, while director Siva Nirvana opted for a different concept with this film, he should have taken care of the pace of the film and the screenplay, which are too slow. Since Tuck Jagdish has been released during the time of Ganesh Chaturti, a major festival for the Telugu audiences, everyone is sure to turn into the movie, but it’s barely passable the very first time itself
Verdict: A snooze fest
Rating: 2/5
