Cast : Anthony Varghese, Chemban Vinod Jose, Shanti Balachandran, Sabumon Abdusamad, Jafar Idukki etc.
Music : Prashanth Pillai
Cinematography : Girish Gangadharan
Editing : Dipu Joseph
Producer : O. Thomas Panikkar
Written by : S. Harish, R. Jayakumar
Directed by : Lijo Jose Pellissery
Release : Aha OTT
Many movies are buzzing with OTT as theaters are not open due to corona virus and lockdown. A few more films will also be entertaining in the coming days. On the other hand, OTT companies are dubbing and releasing successful films released in other languages in Telugu. ‘Jallikattu’ is one of the films released in this way. The Malayalam blockbuster film ‘Aaha’ was released on OTT. How is ‘Jallikattu’, which has been screened at many international film festivals and impressed even the critics? How did Jose Pellissery, who was acclaimed for making films like Angamalai Diaries, direct this film?
Story : Vincent (Chemban Vinod) sells beef with his assistant Antony (Antony Varghese) in the Bhairavakonda area of Anantapur district. Vincent ‘sells beef is very popular in the area. As usual one morning it escapes and takes over the village in order to slaughter a wild boar. It sneezes at the oncoming ones and kicks at the obstacles. With this, all the people in the field are trying to catch the wild buffalo. Kuttachan (Sabuman) is known for turning his arm in gun use. With this, they split into groups and prepare to capture the buffalo. Did all the villagers capture that wild buffalo together? Or killed? What danger did anyone face in this order? If you want to know, you have to watch ‘Jallikattu’!
How it is : A very short line if taken as a story. But, director Pellissery made it a visual wonder. The original Story will be known to the audience shortly after the film opens. However, the suspense of how to catch the escaped buffalo drives the film forward. In this case, the director succeeded hundreds of times.
We have seen many incidents in real life of what kind of destruction a wild animal that escapes death is creating with the fear of death. The director tried to show it all on the silver screen. Vincent’s team on the one hand, Kuttachan’s team on the other, all the young men in the field split into another group and the attempt to catch the buffalo thrilled the entire audience.
Everyone is trying to show themselves as heroes by catching that buffalo. The manner in which they behave in this order makes no difference between man and beast. Does this kind of human behavior really change for a buffalo? That is not to say.
The director tries to show that primitive man is still alive in modern man. We read in the history books how the dominance struggle between humans in the matter of hunting was in those days. The director tried to say that the same thing still exists in humans today. The decisions taken by Antony and Kuttachan to claim that they have caught the bull to gain the admiration of others will have an impact on the lives of the villagers. However, some of the scenes that come in the middle of the story that are going on seriously are funny, but feel a bit embarrassing. The director gave one of the unexpected twists, though at the end everyone caught that buffalo together.
Who did it : Firstly, Anthony, Vincent, Anthony Varghese, who looks like crooks, Chemban Vinod Jose, Sabuman Abdusamad, have appeared in their roles on screen. The rush made by a group of young people called Palamaneru guys is fun. EThe main thing to say about this film is the technical category performance. Most importantly the cinematography, the background music. Both of these took the film to another level. Each scene and the music that accompanies it thrills the audience.
Taking a different, the movie starts with music. It takes a lot of patience to work as a cinematographer for such films. We can see on the screen how patiently Girish Gangadharan worked. Since the whole movie is a story that takes place in one day, many precautions have to be taken. Most importantly, the night-time hunting for the buffalo, the lighting effects while picking up what fell into the well, and the scene where all the village youths split into three groups are the highlights.
Strengths :
Screen Play
Direction
Background music, Cinematography
Weaknesses :
Distance to Telugu Nativity
Sub-stories
Finally : the thrilling experimental film ‘Jallikattu’
Note : This review is related to the reviewer’s perspective. This is the personal opinion of the reviewer only!