It's always nice to see a star like Suriya move away from a typical masala flick for Diwali and come up with a hard-hitting courtroom drama based on actual events. In the film, he is more of a tool that helps enact justice for the oppressed victims. There's no showy entry, songs that praise him to the skies, or stock heroines who exist only to admire him. Instead, the film focuses more on the tribal characters played by Manikandan and Lijomol (both excellent) and the series of unfortunate events that they go through.
Police brutality has been a sensitive topic, touched upon by very few films and filmmakers, even when we keep hearing several such cases in the news. Films like Visaranai and Karnan paved the way for TJ Gnanavel's Jai Bhim to tell a harrowing social issue without the need to be preachy. Jai Bhim's first hour is a somewhat disturbing watch, with the cries of the oppressed both tugging at your heartstrings and coming across as slightly amplified. There's no subtlety at play. The punches are wholly felt, the screams are heard loud and clear. If you still don't, Sean Roldan's woeful score will drive the point home.
But the film gets infinitely better in its final hour. While the finale isn't exactly unpredictable, the journey of getting there is riveting. Both Suriya and Prakash Raj deliver the goods gracefully - not for once, getting in our faces with loud monologues. At a length of 2h 45m, Jai Bhim works due to its performances and topical relevance. Glad that a mainstream audience gets to see it on OTT.
Police brutality has been a sensitive topic, touched upon by very few films and filmmakers, even when we keep hearing several such cases in the news. Films like Visaranai and Karnan paved the way for TJ Gnanavel's Jai Bhim to tell a harrowing social issue without the need to be preachy. Jai Bhim's first hour is a somewhat disturbing watch, with the cries of the oppressed both tugging at your heartstrings and coming across as slightly amplified. There's no subtlety at play. The punches are wholly felt, the screams are heard loud and clear. If you still don't, Sean Roldan's woeful score will drive the point home.
But the film gets infinitely better in its final hour. While the finale isn't exactly unpredictable, the journey of getting there is riveting. Both Suriya and Prakash Raj deliver the goods gracefully - not for once, getting in our faces with loud monologues. At a length of 2h 45m, Jai Bhim works due to its performances and topical relevance. Glad that a mainstream audience gets to see it on OTT.