The makers of `Sagar, Alias Jacky, Reloaded' had made it a point during the production days of the movie that this is neither a sequel to the original big hit of the eighties, nor they are trying to take any of its subject matter to round up as a movie.
But the majority of the film buffs were never ready to swallow this and as the hype and hoopla around the movie raised manifolds, the ''cinephiles '' seem to have approached the movie as if it is a sequel.
The associated'' publicity overkill 'is taking a toll on the film's box office prospects as the majority opines this as not on par with the content of the original, but as a movie full of style, with little substance.
Now let's start straight.
There is absolutely no comparison between the original hit ''Irupathaam Noottandu'' and this movie named after its central character. Even as the former had a protagonist, a simple man getting fixed amidst crimes, who dreamed about the glorified lifestyles of underworld dons in Mumbai, here we have one who enjoys more than an aggrandized life patterns, often called for help by even other bigger dons.
An underworld don who operates internationally, Sagar Alias Jacky had to deal with the likes of Naina (Suman) and Goa based Rozario brothers who want to do away with Sagar.
But each time Sagar with his fearlessness and brilliance in plotting, outplays them. The film starts off very interestingly when Indhu(Shobhana), the daughter of the state chief minister (Nedumudi Venu) calls Sagar to save her husband Manu (Manoj K Jayan) from the clutches of Rozario brothers.
Sagar gets into action and releases him with little fisticuffs. This mission lands him into further troubles, which lead to a chain of gang war, deceit and shooting .To engage the more time of the movie , arrives the heroine Aarathy Menon (Bhavana), a savvy channel reporter, who starts to report on Sagar but predictably falls for his gamut of presentations as a guardian angel. Undoubtedly, the movie is the most slick and stylishly made one which seldom tries to cling on to a plot. Often we have pointless and constant changes of direction to the story, to set the stage for potentially entertaining or nerve-wracking set pieces that rarely show up. And with plenty of men with differing shades of villainy, this dark thriller fails to create characters that have enough roots for any morals.
Mohanlal who is in almost every frame after his introduction, manages to salvage the film by a considerable extent, even though his character is too unidimensional, offering no complex scenes for the versatile actor to cherish.
With veteran S N Swamy's screenplay and dialogues that fails to live up to the best of the visuals, the movie often looks like an overcooked meal '' - which give the star's fans space for wolf-whistles for a punch line or a meticulously conceived entry shots at regular intervals. And in fact, there is little beyond that.
Mollywood needs to wake up to the fact that this man is a natural actor who can handle any great thing on screen acting, than being confined to these types of films.
Most others in the cast have delivered brilliant performances. The name of Sampath who appears as Rozario definitely needs a special mention. Amal Neerad has also brought in the best work from his technicians including the editor Vivek Harsha and art and costume departments. There is hardly any frame in the film that is not color corrected and toned.
Amal as a cinematographer has also played his part to make the movie better, with his brilliant visual aesthetics. He seems to have a special penchant for wide and low angles and hardly lit interiors, and loud and contrasting BG scores (that is evident from his debut film Big B).
Gopi Sundar has worked hard on the rerecording and his songs too suit the films moods, but the Lal - Bhavana song comes up as a speed breaker.
Even though the movie designed in the assembly line of stylized gangster movies of Bollywood, lacks a consistent flow in narratives and is a little slimmer in content, Amal Neerad definitely needs to be appreciated for trying some thing of this sort of visual splendour for the Kerala Audiences. Considering the quality of movies churned out in Mollywood these days,''Sagar Alias Jacky, Reloaded '', must be definitely promoted for the quality of making, rather than for its thematic content.
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