Koratala Siva’s Janatha Garage [2016] Movie Review

Koratala Siva’s Janatha Garage [2016] Movie Review

Star Cast: Mohanlal, Jr NTR, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Nithya Menen, Kajal Aggarwal, Unni Mukundan, Sai Kumar, Rahman, Devayani, Sithara and Ajay.
Directed by Koratala Siva
Music Composed by Devi Sri Prasad
Cinematography by Tirru
Edited by Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Censor Certificate: UA and Runtime: 161 Minutes

The film tells the story of two unlikely people brought together by coincidence (or is it??) – One a nature lover, Anand [Jr NTR] and another social activist Satyam [Mohanlal] helps people in needy in Hyderabad. Anand doesn’t know anything about his Parents as the former wanted him to stay away from Hyderabad. For his environmental research Anand comes to Hyderabad and starts bonding with Satyam and realize they have more in common than they’d initially imagined. But one fine day Anand comes to know about his father because of Bujji [Samantha Ruth Prabhu] and Suresh. Anand’s life goes upside down after that and within no time he lands in the shoes of Satyam to start repairing few evil spirited people around.

Malayalam Superstar Mohanlal was fine in his screen time. His powerful, yet broody mood suits him very aptly, and for an actor of his stature, it would have been a piece of cake. Its just that the plot seems unsure as to pitch him as some one your heart goes out to. Jr NTR continues his new found maturity and nicety in his acting that is very apparent after Rabhasa. He had good scope to perform and has done his job to perfection. His MJ styled dance steps in the song “Apple Beauty” were good. His emotive skills have become better. In few sequences he has done extremely well. One his Interval conversation with Mohanlal and the other Rajeev Kanakala – NTR sequences post interval. But he could have worked a bit on his histronics, while breaking his relationship with Samantha, or his introduction scenes with Mohanlal. Nithya Menen doesn’t have much to do in her character. Samantha Ruth Prabhu is just okay in her very limited characterization and struggles a lot in the emotional part. Apart from the two female leads mentioned above, I was also surprised by the hamming act done by one of favourite supporting actors, Sachin Pilgaonkar. Though his recent movies have not been very good but I really never expected such a uncaring kind of performance from the actor of his stature. Bhramaji, Ajay, Rajeev, Sitara, Suresh, Devayani , Unni Mukundan and Sai Kumar have done their parts well giving the adequate support the story. Kajal Aggarwal sizzles in “Pakka Local” special track

“Dharmam geluvani chota

Thappadu kathula veta

Thappu voppedo samharam tharuvatha

Ranamuna bhagavadgeetha

Chadivindi mana gatha charitha

Rakkasi mookalatho brathike hakke ledanta

Yevaro vastaru manakedo chestharu

Ani veche vedhanaku

Javaabe ee janatha”

This line from “Jayaho Janatha”… suffices everything about the film…

Alright! We have heard the same kinda plot somewhere haven’t we? Yes! The film draws inspiration from “Baasha” and loosely based on “Godfather”, RGV’s “Sarkar”. But Janatha Garage manages to keep us engaging in times but fails to create an impact.

The foremost hurdle in a film like Janatha Garage is its gangster point where it reveals the actual plot of the film right away in the first 10 minutes and you very well know what they are precisely going to show as far as plot points are concerned. So, it comes down to the treatment, narration and performances in such a project, which fortunately is also the forte of its director Koratala Siva, who has earlier given us films such as Mirchi & Srimanthudu. But this time director fails to do so.

Beginning on a fine point and interesting characters, JG offers some moderate sequences at regular intervals, which actually lose their individual charm due to the other flimsy sequences coming one after the other. The basic purpose of the fresh characters remains unclear to the viewers even after 30 minutes into the film and the songs further put some relevant questions on the vision of the maker quite strongly. More over few sequences including Unni Mukundan and Mohanlal directly giving away the rights to Jr NTR strictly ruin the initial excitement of watching this message oriented gangster film and the film truly disappoints towards the end. Though, the post interval, the GHMC elevation sequence brings much needed highs in the film, but the tacky handling of the subject soon makes a comeback, turning the film into an amateurish mediocre product failing to make any kind of favorable impression on the viewers despite the novel point.

The theme songs are efficiently used to propel the narration forward, but “Apple Beauty”, “Pakka Local” provide no contribution to the overall contribution. And the background score punctuates the fight sequences and few elevation sequences post interval. Cinematographer Tiru captures the visuals decently, whether it’s the action or a weekend tour. The usage of CG shots for the background didn’t gel well with the frame of the cinematographer. Movie rest on age old premise and the whole concept runs on predictable note, but after a point it gets tedious especially the climax. The film’s 163 minutes runtime feels way longer, mostly in its second half, because you can see most of the film’s twists coming a mile off and the presence of  two unnecessary tracks, don’t help its case much further. Production Values of Mythri Movie Makers are grand.

At times, a few films rightly and nobly bring forward a message, giving us some food for thought. But Sadly, they are not made with that finesse are not able to deliver the message that impact fully as required to reach the targeted audience. Evidently Janatha Garage remains one of those well intentioned films, but without leaving any kind of solid impression on the audience. In the end, Janatha Garage could have and should have been a better film. On paper at least, the set up must have been stellar, but ultimately, the end result remains unsatisfying despite Mohanlal and Jr NTR’s unmistakable charisma..

Survi Review: 1.5/5