R T Neason’s Jilla (2015) Movie Review

 R T Neason’s Jilla (2015) Movie Review

Opened: July 24, 2015
Director: R T Neason
Starring: Mohanlal, Vijay, Kajal Aggarwal, Mahah Raghavendra, Niveda Thomas
Music: D. Imman
Cinematography: Ganesh Rajavelu
Editing: Don Max

Jilla is a story about the binding of gangster Shivayya (Mohanlal) and his foster son Shakthi (Vijay). Shivayya controls Vijayawada city and Shakthi stands in all activities done by his foster father as he hates police and even dumps a girl who falls in love (As she is an sub inspector). One day, Shivayya decides that there should be a person inside police force as he gets arrested by a police official. In some time, Shakthi turns assistant Police commissioner and he continues his facinorous activities post becoming a police officer, but he changes his affection as he witnesses a huge disaster before him. What’s the huge disaster? How will Shakthi arrest the real culprits? Whether he succeeds or not in his pursuit forms the rest of the film.

Mohanlal as Shivayya steals the show with his entirely new style of dialogue delivery and mannerisms. Vijay once again comes out with a good show, but he doesn’t have an author backed role. Mohanlal and Vijay have done their roles respectably and are able to evoke emotions through their comedy timing and dialogue delivery. But the dubbing was not up to the mark. Kajal Aggarwal has limited opportunities in the film to prove anything. She is glamorous in the songs. Brahmanandam becomes too excited in his guest role, but Soori manages to entertain in his few scenes. Sampath looks good in his negative shaded character. Mahat, Pradeep Rawat have partially successful in their endeavor.

“Jilla” doesn’t boast a strong storyline. The movie, which was publicized as a complete masala fare without much of any logic comes down as a wasted effort with neither the writers nor director showing a semblance of effort to make a strike. Everything goes wrong in the film starting from its second-rate screenplay to a jerry-built treatment. There is not even a single point which can be spoken about the film or one particular sequence which can be remembered for its narration. The sequences fail to evoke any interest in the audience. It fails even as a fun film as you may have to make a lot of efforts to laugh. The film even drags on and on testing your patience in the second half.

Coming to other technical aspects… D. Imman songs were not upto the mark and the Telugu lyrics doesn’t gel well with the tunes. Few of the songs definitely drag the movie. The Background Score is loud and appalling. Cinematography is fine and complemented the screenplay. Action episodes are major highlights of the film, Ganesh deserves a pat. The editor of the film could have easily trimmed down the film by 10-15 minutes time. Therefore even with a run time of 143 minutes (Tamil version is around 170 minutes), the movie isn’t taut. Telugu dialogues were okay, but dubbing could have been better for the main characters. The production values of Shri Obuleswara Productions are mediocre.

The film which should have been released a year ago is released without much fanfare. In a straight review Jilla is not what you expect after seeing its promos. It’s a pakka masala entertainer, with crazy Mohan Lal – Vijay. Whereas, lead combination and stunts are highly enjoyable, there is no thrill factor in the script. All in all, The Tamil Original version must be more entertaining fare as it was a decent hit but the Telugu version lacks the right punch needed for success.

Survi Review: 2/5

Theatrical Trailer: