About a year back at the grand finale of Bigg Boss, Lijo Jose Pellissery announced that Sabumon who had won the event will be offered a prominent role in a movie that featured the fight between man and animal. In due time, that movie was titled "Jallikattu" & as all of you would be aware it created waves when it premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September. Most of the critics have gone gaga for it & even the audience seems to have warmed up to the movie. Hmm...but was it as good as it is made to appear or is it just the domino effect???
There isn't an elaborate tale to narrate as it's about a bull that had managed to escape from the clutches of the local butcher Kaalan Varkey (Chemban Vinod) & his helper Antony (Antony Varghese). The bull wreaks havoc in the village as it destroys whatever that appears in its path. This naturally enrages everyone & with all efforts to pin down the creature fails, more & more people join in with the intention to have a shot at the feast that was on offer. The conflict between man & animal eventually gets evolved into something much more violent & primal, which is something that most of us will not expect.
Lijo Jose was the toast of the Malayalam Industry last year when he was awarded the best director at the 49th International Film Festival of India (IFFI, Goa) for "Ee. Ma. Yau" & the Silver Crow Pheasant award at IFFK. Incidentally, he repeated the feat yet again for his present venture at IFFI, Goa. Based on the short story 'Maoist' by S Hareesh, the script penned by Hareesh & R. Jayakumar focuses on the savage instinct of man to subdue the bull which gets transformed into an event where each individual wants to portray themselves as being superior to the rest in skills & valour. This gives him a sense of entitlement to whatever he desires for whether it be the girl that he lusts for or acceptance of his machoism by the rest. Lijo once again proves mastery over his craft as he creates a unique viewing experience that keeps us engrossed & culminates in a fantastic climax sequence.
Equally praise worthy was Girish Gangadharan's visuals especially the lighting that he does for the major sections that happens in the night & the thrill that it imparts for the chase sequences. Similarly, Renganaath Ravee's BGM & Deepu Joseph's crisp editing also enhanced the impact of the movie. On the performance side, apart from Chemban Vinod, Antony & Sabumon, there are a host of other artists which aren't quite well known faces. Most of them have done their parts aptly but nothing that doesn't deserve special mention.
Verdict: It is undoubtedly a well crafted movie that gives us a enthralling experience as it's something that we haven't been witness to earlier. It's more than a month since it had released & I presume most of you would have seen it by now. However, if you havent then make sure to check it out!!!
Rating: 3.75/5
Regards...Ben
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