Release Date : November 10, 2023
123telugu.com Rating : 2.5/5
Starring: Raghava Lawrence, SJ Suryah, Naveen Chandra, Shine Tom Chacko, and others
Director: Karthik Subbaraj
Producers: Kaarthekeyan Santhanam, S Kathiresan
Music Director: Santhosh Narayanan
Cinematographer: S. Thirunavukkarasu
Editor: Shafique Mohamed Ali
Related Links : Trailer
Karthik Subbaraj has now come up with the sequel to his superhit film Jigarthanda. The movie is titled Jigarthanda Double X and stars Raghava Lawrence and SJ Suryah in the lead roles. Let’s see how it is.
Story:
Allius Caesar (Raghava Lawrence), a criminal, tries to become a film hero. A few discourage him, saying that he is dusky. Nonetheless, Caesar is determined to become a hero and calls a few directors to narrate him a story. Ray Dason (SJ Suryah) leaves him quite impressed, and Caesar chooses him as his director. Ray Dason opines that Caesar’s life story should be taken as a film. How did Caesar’s life undergo a massive change due to the film? This forms the crux of the story.
Plus Points:
Raghava Lawrence’s acting potential is well utilised by Karthik Subbaraj. Till now, Lawrence didn’t get much scope to show the actor in him, and Jigarthanda Double X fills that void. Lawrence played a character that had two different shades, and his performance was excellent.
The second half of the film is comparatively better, and the story takes a U-turn here. A few emotions worked well in the latter hour, and the pre-climax portions were good. A couple of scenes will move audiences to tears. The forest scenes involving elephants were solid visually.
SJ Suryah is a gem of an actor, and he is once again at his absolute best in this film. His scenes with Lawrence in the second hour came out well. Naveen Chandra is good in his role. The movie’s action scenes are brilliantly conceived.
Minus Points:
The first hour is used for character intros and world-building, but scenes aren’t exciting and cause boredom for the most part. The pacing is extremely slow, and many portions are dragged here. Except for a couple of scenes, the first hour lacks the punch.
The scene-to-scene transitions could have been done better in the first half. The movie has a lengthy runtime, and the editing team could have trimmed down a few sequences to have a better impact.
Telugu dubbing is below par, and especially the songs are bad in the Telugu version. Shine Tom Chacko and a few other actors could have been utilized better as they are not seen after a point in time.
Technical Aspects:
Jigarthanda Double X is exceptional on the technical front. Santosh Narayanan’s top-notch background score and Thirunavukkarasu’s terrific cinematography enhance the viewing experience. The production values are good. The art direction team did an impressive job. The editing is below par.
Director Karthik Subbaraj chose a good point, but the narration was underwhelming for the most part. The two halves are completely in contrast to each other, and a few emotional scenes in the second half click. However, Karthik Subbaraj extracted solid performances from his actors.
Verdict:
On the whole, Jigarthanda Double X manages to hold our attention only in a few portions. Lawrence surprises with his acting while SJ Suryah is in his element. The second half is slightly better than the first half, but the overall experience isn’t satisfactory. Also, the lengthy runtime and slow pacing are the other key drawbacks of this action drama.
123telugu.com Rating: 2.5/5
Reviewed by 123telugu Team