Rating: 1.5/5
Banner: Kiran Studios
Cast: Brahmanandam, Vennela Kishore, Ali, Sravan, Harish Koyalagundla, Venu, Dhanraj, Melkoti, Ahuti Prasad, Raghu Babu, Fish Venkat and others
Music: Anoop Rubens
Cinematographer: Raja
Editor: Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao
Story, screenplay, direction: Vennela Kishore
Producer: Ramesh Varma
Release date: 29/03/2013
Brahmanandam who rules the roost in comedy has now arrived as a hero once again after a long hiatus. He has teamed up with Vennela Kishore for this one. Let us see whether this attempt was successful.
Story
Jasmine Falguda (Brahmi) shortly known as Jaffa has become a sought after convict but in reality he happens to be a software engineer who has a sadistic boss (Melkoti).
Few unexpected events land him in jail and with his brainy ideas, Jaffa becomes famous in the jail. Even the jailer Nikki (Vennela Kishore) takes suggestions and tips from Jaffa to solve his problems.
One incident puts Nikki in trouble and Jaffa decides to help him out with an escape plan. Whether that works or not forms the rest of the tale.
Performances:
Brahmanandam is a high potential actor and he has shown his versatility in every way possible. Despite his age and image, he still has the ability to carry a film on his shoulders.
Vennela Kishore was natural and more spontaneous. His strength lies in his timing and dialogue delivery. Though his role was lacking depth he gave it enough energy to withstand.
Ali was alright, Sravan was standard, Dhanraj was good, Melkoti was moderate, Venu was upto the mark, Harish did his bit as required, Ahuti Prasad came and went, Raghu Babu was confusing.
Highlights:
- Brahmanandam
Drawbacks:
- Second half
- Screenplay
- Dragged scenes
- Weak energy
Analysis:
Generally dreams appear senseless even for a healthy human being. Just imagine how the dreams of a mad man appear. And if you can’t, go and watch ‘JAFFA’.
No one knows why there’s a Church Father in a Jail. And no one understands why 3 prisoners always play dirty games in prison. It needs a sense beyond logic to connect to the coffin episode. It’s neither surrealism nor straight nor symbolism nor anything. It’s a new genre, yet to be named.
Unlike Hollywood, the Indian cinema has been going around with conventional genres like romance, action, thriller, horror, comedy. But in the recent past, few filmmakers have dared to venture with experimental genres and we are already seeing such ones being made in Bollywood. Vennela Kishore is one actor/director who has attempted to break the barrier and come up with something according to his conviction in Telugu. This is one such effort. But it’s hard to digest this for Telugu audience those are habituated to watch formula films.
As such, the thought process of the director (actually he is an actor) is creative beyond a limit and there is a good streak of comedy in him. But in order to get the audience attention for two plus hours, certain technical rules need to be followed. For instance, the screenplay should be consistent and keep the viewer hooked to the plot. Secondly, such cult comedies require good energy and pace, the scenes have to be brief and quick. It is because these elements were not strong the film fizzles out after a while.
First half is crisp and short and hence sounds reasonable despite senselessness rules through out. But second half marred with lengthy narration. It got extremely monotonous and boring. This is mainly due to jarred screenplay.
Overall, this is a film which will have strong openings due to the positive hype created and the Brahmi factor. It may not be a commercial failure but a content failure.
Bottomline: Sounds like a mad man’s dream
(Venkat can be reached at [email protected] or https://twitter.com/greatandhranews)
