Janatha Garage Review - This Garage Is in Need of an Overhaul

Sethumadhavan

Imagine a moment when two powerful individuals are meeting for the first time and what if they happen to be the leading men in a Telugu mass movie? So there is this moment closer to the interval in Koratala’s Siva’s Janatha Garage where NTR Jr and Mohanlal finally get to meet each other. Considering the circumstances that lead to them meeting and the kind of histrionics both these actors are capable of, one would expect the director to bring in a fiery exchange of dialogues. Surprisingly what we get instead is a wonderfully underplayed scene where the dialogues are kept realistic, there are no long monologues from either of them and there is genuine admiration that is depicted between the two. It’s a remarkably restrained moment, one which shows the class of both the actors and some brilliant writing and execution by Koratala Siva. If only the film had more such elements, then the end result would have been way better. 

With the super success of Mirchi and Srimanthudu, writer-director Koratala Siva’s Janatha Garage was obviously much looked forward to. With NTR Jr being in terrific form of late (his previous two films, Temper and NannakuPrematho having worked commercially) and with the added presence of a wonderful actor like Mohanlal, the film had everything going in its favour. This is why it is a little disappointing to see that Koratala Siva hasn’t gone on to completely make use of the winning proposition that he had in his hands. The main reason for the same being a beaten to death sort of a plot which is tempered with a few elements to still keep the element of interest remain for as long as possible. In the early 1980’s Sathyam (Mohanlal) shifts to Hyderabad with his family and he sets up “Janatha Garage” with the help of an able team. Circumstances see Janatha Garage and Sathyam turn up as saviour of the people and soon people start looking up to Janatha Garage whenever in need of justice.

Sathyam’s brother (Rahman) and his wife are killed by their enemies and a guilt ridden Sathyam hands over hisbrother’s son Anand to his uncle (Suresh), asking him to ensure that he is kept away from Janatha Garage and the past that led to the death of his parents. Anand (NTR Jr) grows up to be a fiery young man in Mumbai, an environmental sciences student who fights for the cause of environmental conservation. On a visit to Hyderabad he comes in contact with the Janatha Garage team. What happens from thereon is what the rest of the film is all about. One need really have to stretch his/her mind to predict how the plot is going to turn out and that is one of the main problems with the film. Another issue is with respect to the way there is an imbalance of sorts in the film, with two powerful protagonists there is a definite reason to have an equally powerful antagonist. Unfortunately both Sachin Khedekar and UnniMukundan have poorly sketched characters hence they don’t deliver an impact despite a good screen time that they receive.

There is an attempt to keep the proceedings revolving mainly around NTR Jr and Mohanlal and in the process there is hardly any scope for romance in the film. Thus both Samantha and Nithya Menon have precious little to do in the film; in fact Kajal Aggarwal delivers a bigger impact with her item number “Pakka Local”. It’s also commendable of Koratala Siva to stay clear of a comedy track, something that is usually considered very important in a formulaic Telugu film. But despite all this there seems to be a clear “Sarkar” feel that Janatha Garage generates right through the duration of the film, which makes it a little more alarming. Devi Sri Prasad’s music is good and the film has a couple of tracks that one would tend to remember for a while. Tirru’s cinematography shines and as always he brings an interesting mix of hues on screen.

Of the supporting cast Sai Kumar as the commissioner of police, Devyani as Sathyam’s wife and Ajay as an important member of the Janatha Garage team, leave an impact. In fact there are quite a few actors from Malayalam cinema in the star cast, perhaps with the specific aim of making the Malayalam dubbed version work well in Kerala. NTR Jr is thankfully restrained in the film and plays his part pretty well. It is also good to see him share a good on screen chemistry with Mohanlal and he has not shown any insecurity at all, resulting in the veteran actor being utilised prominently in the film by Koratala Siva. A role like this is a cakewalk for an actor of the calibre of Mohanlal and he plays it with grace. But after recently dubbing for himself in Manamantha, it is a little disappointing to see that over here his voice has been dubbed by someone else.

 

Bottomline

Janatha Garage is not all that bad or as boring as some of the previous Telugu biggies this year. But this is sadly just a consolation as there could have been so much better to talk about it if only Koratala Siva had focused on getting a slightly better plot with some novelty. Ultimately it is watchable mainly due to NTR Jr and Mohanlal who do put up a good show.

 

Rating: 2.5/5

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