Oru Jaathi Jaathakam: Vineeth Sreenivasan starrer has shallow characters, misplaced humour
Oru Jaathi Jaathakam (Malayalam)Somewhere, at the very core of Oru Jaathi Jaathakam, there must have been good intentions of ridiculing male chauvinism, calling out the obsession with horoscopes, and the shallowness of men making dozens of demands of a prospective bride. Unfortunately, it is all lost in the mayhem of a script that goes wrong in so many different ways, from the continually failing attempts at comedy to the totally distasteful depiction of the queer community. The sad part is, Vineeth Sreenivasan, playing the lead, gives his best – only, it goes wasted like a nice little ingredient thrown into a very poor recipe of bad writing and execution. M Mohanan who made a much-appreciated debut with Katha Parayumbol in 2007 and followed it up with films like Manikyakallu (2011), and Aravindante Athidikal (2018) among others, has directed the film, trying his hand at an out-and-out comedy, scripted by Rakesh Mantodi. The gist of the main character, Jayesh, appears tailor-made for Vineeth, considering his versatile portrayals of recent years, with a special taste for dark comedy. Jayesh is 37 years old and has only one thought: to get married before he is 38 and before his dad is 70 for their horoscopes suggest bad things happening to them otherwise. He is so much a stereotype of the regressive chauvinist that he would have been a cliche 20 years ago. Everything from the perfect horoscope to the fair-skinned woman who does not wish to work after marriage is in his plethora of demands. A handful of jokes appear funny in the beginning - given how much of a bigot Jayesh is, he seems like a caricature only to be laughed at. He has rejected countless proposals over the years for preposterous reasons (one woman was rejected for her crooked teeth). He makes calls to his personal marriage broker (Sayanora in an interesting role) demanding better options. And at his office, running a literary magazine, he has critiqued a book on the LGBTQIA+ community, dehumanising anyone on the spectrum. In other words, he seems so much beyond help that it is difficult to take him seriously. That was perhaps the intention of the writers, to expose the absurdity of such characters with large coatings of humour. The problem is that the humour is entirely misplaced, especially when the film deviates from the shallowness of Jayesh to addressing questions of sexuality. To avoid spoilers, let’s just say it goes horribly wrong from that point. Women, of course, fall into the script in plenty, as prospective brides, neighbours, colleagues, and friends. Nikhila Vimal, Indu Thampy, Aiswarya Mithun Koroth, Chippy Devassy, and a number of others drop by, some of them not even long enough for you to register their presence. Babu Antony plays the understanding boss and like the rest of the cast has to dip his hands in comedy, if creepy can pass off as comedy. Talented actors like Pooja Mohanraj and PP Kunhikrishnan, like Vineeth, are wasted. In one scene, Kunhikrishnan, playing the father of the superficial Jayesh, ridicules his obsession with appearances, but by body shaming the son. If you shut down all the noise around him, you can actually spot Vineeth’s skills at comedy. He could be a natural with his casual dialogue delivery and uninhibited body language. If placed in a lovely film, he would work wonders. Unfortunately, Oru Jaathi Jathakam is not it. Disclaimer: This review was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the film. Neither TNM nor any of its reviewers have any sort of business relationship with the film’s producers or any other members of its cast and crew.
Oru Jaathi Jaathakam (Malayalam)
SOMEWHERE, at the very core of Oru Jaathi Jaathakam, there must have been good intentions of ridiculing male chauvinism, calling out the obsession with horoscopes, and the shallowness of men making dozens of demands of a prospective bride.
Unfortunately, it is all lost in the mayhem of a script that goes wrong in so many different ways, from the continually failing attempts at comedy to the totally distasteful depiction of the queer community.
The sad part is, Vineeth Sreenivasan, playing the lead, gives his best – only, it goes wasted like a nice little ingredient thrown into a very poor recipe of bad writing and execution.
M. Mohanan, who made a much-appreciated debut with Katha Parayumbol in 2007 and followed it up with films like Manikyakallu (2011) and Aravindante Athidikal (2018), among others, has directed the film, trying his hand at an out-and-out comedy, scripted by Rakesh Mantodi.
The gist of the main character, Jayesh, appears tailor-made for Vineeth, considering his versatile portrayals of recent years, with a special taste for dark comedy.
Jayesh is 37 years old and has only one thought: to get married before he is 38 and before his dad is 70 for their horoscopes suggest bad things happening to them otherwise. He is so much a stereotype of the regressive chauvinist that he would have been a cliche 20 years ago.
Everything from the perfect horoscope to the fair-skinned woman who does not wish to work after marriage is in his plethora of demands.
A handful of jokes appear funny in the beginning - given how much of a bigot Jayesh is, he seems like a caricature only to be laughed at. He has rejected countless proposals over the years for preposterous reasons (one woman was rejected for her crooked teeth). He makes calls to his personal marriage broker (Sayanora in an interesting role) demanding better options. And at his office, running a literary magazine, he has critiqued a book on the LGBTQIA+ community, dehumanising anyone on the spectrum. In other words, he seems so much beyond help that it is difficult to take him seriously.
That was perhaps the intention of the writers, to expose the absurdity of such characters with large coatings of humour. The problem is that the humour is entirely misplaced, especially when the film deviates from the shallowness of Jayesh to addressing questions of sexuality. To avoid spoilers, let’s just say it goes horribly wrong from that point.
Women, of course, fall into the script in plenty, as prospective brides, neighbours, colleagues, and friends. Nikhila Vimal, Indu Thampy, Aiswarya Mithun Koroth, Chippy Devassy, and several others drop by, some of them not even long enough for you to register their presence.
Babu Antony plays the understanding boss and like the rest of the cast, he has to dip his hands in comedy, if creepy can pass off as comedy. Talented actors like Pooja Mohanraj and PP Kunhikrishnan, like Vineeth, are wasted. In one scene, Kunhikrishnan, playing the father of the superficial Jayesh, ridicules his obsession with appearances, but by body-shaming the son.
If you shut down all the noise around him, you can actually spot Vineeth’s skills at comedy. He could be a natural with his casual dialogue delivery and uninhibited body language. If placed in a lovely film, he would work wonders. Unfortunately, Oru Jaathi Jathakam is not it.
Disclaimer: This review was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the film. Neither TNM nor any of its reviewers have any sort of business relationship with the film’s producers or any other members of its cast and crew.
