JacksonDurai Review

‘Dora’, directed by one film old Dharaneedharan, is yet another addition to the long list of horror-comedy films released in recent times.  The difference is that patriotism and valor of freedom fighters is the element distinguishing it from the rest.

But sadly, this dubbed version of the Tamil film ‘Jackson Durai’ has very little to offer in terms of both horror and humor.  Far from using the interesting premise of a group of freedom fighters led by Sathyaraj out to avenge the tyranny of Jackson 'dora', a cruel British official, many decades after Independence, the film actually reduces the element to one of horror-comedy.  Why does this valiant freedom fighter behave like a comedy 'dayyam'?  No answer.

Sathya (Sibiraj), a Sub Inspector of Police, is posted in a village called Dorapuram where people complain that a ghost by name Jackson is living in a haunted bungalow, killing scores of innocents. Vijaya (Bindhu Madhavi) is the daughter of the local President (Shanmuga Sundaram). Sathya falls for her, but he has to compete with Veera (Karunakaran) to win over his lady love.

The President challenges Sathya and Veera to live in the haunted bungalow for seven days and whoever comes out alive will be given his daughter in marriage. The duo accept the challenge.  Once they start living together in the bungalow, eerie experiences scare them. They learn that the ghosts are the family and accomplices of a British ruler Jackson and a group of rebels lead by Dora (Sathyaraj) who sacrificed their lives to kill Jackson.

The rest of the film is about how Sathya and Veera pacify the ‘good’ ghosts (rebels) by helping them to avenge the ‘bad’ ones (Jackson and his accomplices).

Most of the horror scenes follow the oft repeated ideas and patterns and there is hardly any scene that really scares the audience who are very much used to these kind of horror scenes.  Horror-comedy doesn't mean horror should look be funny.  It's horror plus comedy, for God's sake.

There comes a point in the second half when we are left wondering as to what Sibiraj and Karunakaran are there for.  The writer seems to have taken the introduction scene's message that Sibiraj is more about fake build up too seriously.  Till the end, he is a passive player, leaving the room for the two groups of devils to have a field day.

The humor part can not be called a complete let down as a few situations and dialogues here and there and the proceedings of the last half an hour manage to raise a few guffaws.

Even the short flash back portions dealing with the rebellion against the British rule fails to create the intended impact.

Sibiraj gives a good enough performance and his earnestness is clearly evident. Bindhu Madhavi’s role has been reduced to that of an extended cameo. Karunakaran gives an impressive performance and his antics and dialogues give the much needed humor relief. Sathyaraj is majestic as the rebel leader but there is nothing new in his characterization and antics as a ghost.  Rajendran this time comes as a ghost but disappoints with same kind of dialogues and antics and it will be better if our filmmakers start using him for some different purposes. Yogi Babu has again become a necessary inclusion in comedy oriented films but fails to evoke laughter this time.

Chinna’s background score is good in certain scenes but loud in others. Cinematography by Yuvraj is apt and tries its best to increase the eeriness in night scenes. Vivek Harshan has done a neat job in the Editor’s table.

Verdict: 'Dora' fails to live up to the expectations over its horror tag.   A fairy tale-like film that is too childish in the second half.  Had Sathyaraj's character not been a comedy 'dayyam', the film would have been something else - a better one.  Too much respect for comedy, too little for the freedom fighters' valour.

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