A phenomenon isa fact or situation that is observed to exist or happen, especially one whose cause or explanation is in question. The craze for Rajinikanth powered by his superstardom is one such phenomenon since Baasha (1995). Since then, there have been very few films which made use of every bit of this phenomenon. Jailer joins that coveted list. He was in his mid-40s back then and now he is 70 plus. Age is not just a number beyond a point and gives you certain physical limitations. This is where Nelson cleverly glorifies the Rajini phenomenon, panders to his fandom and pulls off entertaining moments convincingly.
To make such moments larger-than-life and even bigger, Nelson relies on 3 concepts. First two are textbook knowledge with the textbook being Thalaivar’s own Baasha - strong antagonist and goosebumps-inducing BGM work. Despite the antagonist looking a little weak on paper, Vinayakan elevates it with his acting. Boy, he is gonna be flooded with offers from Kolly! Man makes sharing screen space against one of India’s superstars (infact, many!) seem so effortless. Meanwhile, Anirudh hypes it up this foundation with his electrifying BGM work - something that has now become a routine for him as he is a constant name on all big starrers across industries!
The third and the final concept is raw and swashbuckling screen presences. Cameos are usually used to grab eyeballs, drive up the craze and an attempt to pull audiencs to the theatrical experience in today’s OTT-la-paathukalam era. When you already have the biggest star of the industry, what if other industry superstars do cameos? Thirai thee pidikum! Mollywood Superstar Mohanlal and Sandalwood Superstar Shivanna indeed fire up the screen like no tomorrow! WHATTE A SCREEN PRESENCE!!!
Courtesy - Times of India
However, do these big names with such promising potential come together to give us a great film? Nope. Good film? Debatable. Jailer is your typical Rajini padam, it goes through lows just to give you the highs. To retain the social-media-induced decreasing attention span, the team has (desperately) played it safe to keep the highs coming one after the other. Is this wrong? Definitely not. Did this hurt the movie? Again, no. On one hand, we can convince ourselves saying these things will probably work with top tier superstars only. Pure fan service. I admire the laser focus to celebrate the superstardom since we have the Rajinikanth at hand! But on the other hand - are we, in the name of cinema, making 2–3 hour long Instagram reels to get a prolonged exposure to dopamine? Well, that’s something to ponder upon!
These mass scenes are marinated with humor throughout. A terrific Yogi Babu makes these scenes work with Sunil pitching in for some time. Tamannaah, like Anirudh, does what is expected off her. Ramya Krishnan feels wasted and so does Jackie Shroff too since his role lacks the punch the other 2 cameos had. They could have gone for 2 lesser-known actors for these roles. Vasanth Ravi does have scope to perform but his bland acting falls flat. Thus, his character doesn’t work as much as it would have on paper. This further hurts the already poorly written emotional beats of the movie. Emotional aspect which drives the characters to do what they do is what worked massively in Nelson’s previous films - Kolamaavu Kokila (2018, debut)and Doctor (2021).
Jailer misses out here, but it is saved by mass scenes and by Rajini, the performer, who manages to push some of the emotional scenes across the finish line. Though Nelson has walked away from his usual template (of having a group of characters come together and land in a dangerous situation) and tried something different, he has retained his style and touch, especially cinematography wise. Hats off to Vijay Kartik Kannan. That style projected on to a style icon like Rajini, along with ample scope for actor Rajini, makes it an absolute treat for Rajini fans and general audience. Had the loose ends been plastered, this could have become Rajini’s Vikram.
Post Scriptum: I wonder why Nelson didn’t make Marimuthu (aka Gunasekaran senior) say Indhaama Aei!
Courtesy - SunNxt
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“But on the other hand - are we, in the name of cinema, making 2–3 hour long Instagram reels to get a prolonged exposure to dopamine? Well, that’s something to ponder upon!”
while i don’t entirely disagree with this, would you like to explore the possibility that this was a FD rajini experience that made you feel this way?
that apart, balanced review as always, arthamaindhi raja ;)
“But on the other hand - are we, in the name of cinema, making 2–3 hour long Instagram reels to get a prolonged exposure to dopamine? Well, that’s something to ponder upon!”
while i don’t entirely disagree with this, would you like to explore the possibility that this was a FD rajini experience that made you feel this way?
that apart, balanced review as always, arthamaindhi raja ;)