Cast: Nikhil Kumar Gowda, Deepti Sati, Brahmanandam, Jagapati Babu, Sadhu Kokila, Kavita Radeshyam, Sampath Raj, Adithya Menon, Ramya Krishnan, Vidyullekha Raman, Avinash, Tamannaah
Banner: Channambika Films
Music: SS Thaman
Story: K Vijayendra Prasad
Cinematography: Manoj Paramahamsa
Editor: Ruben
Producer: Anitha Kumaraswamy & HD Kumaraswamy
Director: Mahadev
Watch many previous commercial hits again on 1ticket
Plot:
A sudden unexpected murder of a key doyen takes the city by surprise and the case is handed over to CBI headed by Jagapathi Babu who is in hunt of the killer. SS Krishna (Nikhil Kumar) is a shrewd yet notorious medico who locks horns with student leader Aarya (Adarsh Balakrishna), loves his sister Priya (Deepti Sati) and grabs the attention of kingpin Shaurya Prasad (Sampath Raj) with a secret mission. While Aarya fights against the unethicalambitions and practices of his college & hospital run by Shaurya Prasad & Co, the serial killer announces Krishna, Aarya, Shaurya Prasad and his aids as his next targets. As Krishna advances in his accomplishinghis mission, CBI remains a watch dog witnessing the unexpected proceedings. What is ‘Jaguar’, its link with Krishna’s mission and how did Krishna succeed forms the rest of the plot.
Performances:
Nikhil Kumar: On a frank note, watching him as a ‘hero’ could have been one of the biggest challenges in life for the Telugu audiences and accepting him can be the next toughest one(we understand you) but this young chap has got ‘it’ to be the hero (you know what we mean). Well his aim and hardwork is pretty evident in every frame and we know the industry has already paved a red carpet – now he’s the unstoppable hulk.
Deepti Sati: She was as good as Nikhil in the film (if there was any good) and gave her best as every other heroine in a commercial space (you know the glamour..songs..lip lock etc – come on..even lip locks are not new to us right!)
Sampath Raj & Adithya Menon chose to play what was cake walk for them – the routine baddie! But the young actor (who played Ajay in the film) along with them is an interesting talent to watch out for (this is for the casting directors)
Along with the Kannada comedy gang, Brahmanandam tries to entertain as ‘Popularity Padmanabhan’ with something he has been doing quite often of late– a hyper active dumb clown being fooled by the hero.
While Rao Ramesh gets a key role in the past, actors like Jagapathi Babu, Ramya Krishnan are underutilized.
Analysis:
Jaguar is touted to be one of the most high-budgeted debuts in recent times (reportedly squashed the record of Bellamkonda Sreenivas by a large margin). Well you have a golden duck (bangaru bathu – true translation) that has a hero and a money sack in hand with a single objective – a dream launch pad.
If the producer has got money, the director has a good collection of yesteryear commercial hits – and then Jaguar happened. Firstly switch on the ‘commercial film’ mode in your brain before you step into the theatres. Now the maze begins and you’ll slowly start feeling like Sridevi in Kshana Kshanam (when Venkatesh narrates his past) - “Ee cinema nenu chusa…”
It is the story of a young super smart (we mean in terms of intelligence) hero who steps into the arena to avenge his personal loss – sounds heavy right! But this revenge drama needs a heroine to romance, a clown to fool around (you know the “Hasyam”), a dumb villain to be toyed till the climax with the songs, out-of-the-world action episodes (from Yamaha Dukes to Tata lorries) as VAT! The first 20mins of the film will give you an idea of where you’ll end up. And you can wake up when Brahmanandam arrives after which the next stop will be Tamannaah.
Having said the above, a big ‘LIKE’ for the cinematography and grand production values! With hardworking young talent, exceptional supporting cast, top-notch crew the director has given us what we have been watching from a long while.
Merits:
- Engaging performances by the cast
- Comedy of Brahmanandam
- Special Song by Tamannaah
- Cinematography
- Editing
- Production Values
De-merits:
- Run of the mill story and narration – bland writing.
Music:
Except for a single melody, we couldn’t find anything special in the songs or background score. Guess a routine commercial film deserves everything routine – hence proved!(By the way this category belongs to the ace composer SS Thaman)
Other:
Nothing special in the Item number..oops..special song by Tamannaah except for her exceptional oomph factor.
Verdict:
Looks like Jaguar tried to once again reassert the fact that an old wine can be poured into an expensive new glass any number of times! You can avail the special offer of revisiting so many old commercial hits on a single ticket (only if you wish/risk to) – that's all your honour!
Avg User Rating: 2.25/5