Jana Gana Mana Draws Parallels Between Politics & Truth & Is An Overload Of Mass Entertainment
Dijo Jose Antony¡¯s Jana Gana Mana doesn¡¯t really compromise the importance of its theme for the sake of entertainment. It's made in Akira Kurosawa's Rashmon style, where a single incident has multiple layers and is described differently by different people, and no one knows what's true. The raging element of suspense is always present on the screen. What really makes this film interesting is the way it plays with your mind by showing various vers...Read More
Dijo Jose Antony¡¯s Jana Gana Mana doesn¡¯t really compromise the importance of its theme for the sake of entertainment. It's made in Akira Kurosawa's Rashmon style, where a single incident has multiple layers and is described differently by different people, and no one knows what's true.
The raging element of suspense is always present on the screen. What really makes this film interesting is the way it plays with your mind by showing various versions of the truth and forcing you to make a choice, which is really tough to do so.
Prithviraj plays the role of barrister Aravind, who is set on busting layers of truth one after another. Deception is at play every time in the movie. It makes you believe one side of an incident related to encounter killing.
We are led on to believe a part of the deception till the end, and then a twist unravels itself and puts us in jeopardy. Much like the members of the jury, we need to take a stand, but there¡¯s nothing black and white to stand for, everything is grey and the side of truth we choose only reveals our own biases. These themes don¡¯t talk much about the plot, they talk more about us and how each thought we build is a side we choose, which eventually reveals the mindset we hold.
What really makes this film more refined is the way its narrative is written. Although the film feels as if it explains itself a lot continuously, as it is set in a courtroom, this feeling eventually gets eroded. This is DJ Antony¡¯s second film, and it is so much more refined that it feels as if he has made a truckload of films before this.
The first chapter deals with the investigation of the probable murder of a college professor, and the second one features Prithiviraj in the latter half, who talks about his past and squashes some so-called truths.
On the surface, the story is all about a mother seeking revenge for her daughter¡¯s death, but the media, cops, and lawyers tell various versions of the story and the matter gets very convoluted.
Coming to the performances, Prithviraj, even with his limited presence on the screen, was able to charm us and make us fall in love with his portrayal of a cynical lawyer. Suraj Venjaramoodu, on the other hand, is flawless; he performs according to the needs of the script, and he does it so beautifully that it becomes difficult to focus on the screen. Mamta Mohandas and Vincy Aloshious played their parts fabulously and they maintained the dynamics of their characters in an amazing manner.
Apart from the performances, the other departments were even on point. Be it music or be it cinematography, DJ Antony got most of the things right. With its mass discussions and unexpected turns, 'Jana Gana Mana' reminds us a lot about the times we live in. By addressing issues such as casteism, anti-nationalism, and the entrance of hooligans into student politics, the filmmakers have attempted to stay as true to current events as possible. At times, the only thing that can bother you is the screenplay. There is a constant shift between the versions of truth. At first it¡¯s Prithviraj¡¯s story, then it¡¯s of Suraj. Both the stories start in the category of ¡®sensational news.¡®
This shift is done so many times that it feels as if DJ Antony is losing control in places, which eventually impacts the flow of the movie.
However, this cut transition has its own benefits, without which this film would have been a stretched courtroom drama, but it doesn¡¯t feel stretched at all. So, the drawback gets nullified eventually.
Another aspect that works for the film is its mass entertaining dialogues, which shows how strongly the film is written. Overall, Jana Gana Mana is like a pendulum chasing one deception after another and making us realise that there is no such thing as truth. It all just depends on what and whom you believe.
As Neitzsche used to say, "Truths are illusions of which one has forgotten that they are illusions, metaphors that have become worn-out and deprived of their sensuous force, coins that have lost their imprint and are now no longer seen as coins but as metal."
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