'Jana Gana Mana' movie review: Gripping courtroom drama

Jana Gana Mana

Malayalam (Theatres)

Director: Dijo Jose Antony

Cast: Prithviraj Sukumaran, Suraj Venjaramoodu

3.5/5

Dijo Jose Antony’s second film after the highly forgettable ‘Queen’ happens to be an intense courtroom drama enhanced by Jakes Bejoy’s exquisite score, a tight screenplay by Sharis Mohammed and powerful performances by the main cast.

The movie is immensely thrilling except for the repeated expositions that help the characters make their points effortlessly. The film is also overly preachy at times. It also means the makers have very strong politics to convey. The blatant attempt to place certain events coinciding with the recent socio-political incidents prove their intentions.

The important question the movie raises is, “Does truth drive the society or does the society drive the truth?”. That’s a great recipe for a film like this.

That said, the film struggles with too many subplots, and characters. There is a lot happening in the film like discrimination against a particular religious group, police brutality, encounter killings, and criticism of media sensationalism.

‘Jana Gana Mana’ finally ends with a strong criticism of political parties and politicians being the ultimate evil menace of the country. The film appears to be building a universe of its own and may have future additions to it.

The director has done an amazing job at making it a thriller and Jakes Bejoy’s background score steals the show, making the audiences jump out of their seats more often and celebrate the scenes. Suraj Venjaramoodu as Sajjan Kumar IPS and Prithviraj as the mysterious Aravind deliver hard-hitting performances.