Jail movie review: GV Prakash film doesn't live up to its potential

Language: Tamil What is life without a livelihood? This is the central question of Vasanthabalan’s Jail, starring GV Prakash Kumar. The film, set in 2015, is centered in a slum resettlement colony, fashioned on the likes of Kannagi Nagar on the outskirts of Chennai. The social canvas here is large – there’s loss of livelihoods, gentrification, increasing violence and crimes, and the general stigma that comes with being associated with the locality. Jail attempts to document and examine this socio-political landscape through the lives of three youngsters – Karuna (GV Prakash), Rocky (Nandhan), and Kalai (Pasanga Pandi). The premise holds immense potential for a poignant drama. And director Vasanthabalan is not new to documenting shocking realities. (Remember Angaadi Theru?) This is why Jail’s superficiality comes across as a major disappointment. It feels like a film made from collective memory. Despite its grounded landscape, Jail’s narrative treads very familiar paths – A corrupt police official, two warring drug gangs, an innocent studious guy who becomes unintentional collateral, deaths. Even the dialogues carry so much flab – there’s so much repetition of information. Amid the ‘ehs’ and ‘oohs’, there’s not much real conversation that fills in these outlines. Also read:  With Jai Bhim, Tamil cinema yet again depicts caste realities more vigorously than any other contemporary film industry Jail is a well-intentioned film but the treatment feels extremely dated. It begins with a voice over that starts with ‘Vanakkam makkaley’ (Hello people) and ends with ‘Vaanga indha makkal oda konjam naal vaazhnthu paakalam.’ (Let us live the lives of these people for a few days.) Jail heavily underestimates its viewer. The smallest bit of information is explicitly explained – there’s a lot of ‘saying’ and not much ‘showing’. Along with the annoyingly expository voiceovers, we also have several unnecessary songs. The film is said to be set in 2015, but you wonder if it was actually made in 2015.

There were smaller nuances that I was curious about. During an emotional crisis, Karuna slits his wrists, attempting to die by suicide. A closeup to his wrists shows the multiple scars on his wrist – accumulated trauma over the years. But we don’t truly get to see this side of Karuna at all. Similarly, Paapamma (Radikaa Sarathkumar) is introduced as a woman who irons her threadbare sarees, no matter how worn out they are. These are illuminating insights into the persona of these characters. But sadly, these never get explored and get lost under the bulk of exposition. The film opts for a blue-yellow colour palette. Almost every frame is a combination of these two contrasting colours; while the former is a cold colour, the latter is a warm one. The combination gives an interesting tone to the film – one that’s warm but distant. GV Prakash is very convincing as Karuna, the small-time thief with a heart of gold. There’s natural ease and confidence in his performances. In an interview about Sarpatta Parambarai, director Pa Ranjith speaks about how his objective was to show how perishable progress is for people from vulnerable communities. They do not have space for mistakes or impulse; one minor misstep and the modest progress they had made can all come crashing down. Jail tries to explore this emotional landmine as well. In its writing, we see the frameworks of a strong emotional drama. But it never rises above that. The film is playing in theatres. Rating: 2.5

Ashameera Aiyappan is a film journalist who writes about Indian cinema with a focus on South Indian films.

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