'Oru Jaathi Jathakam' review: Vineeth Sreenivasan is a riot even as makers give political correctness a miss
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Not all movies need to be dark, thought-provoking or taken too seriously. It can be enjoyed just for the laughs, like the recent Prithviraj-Basil Joseph film 'Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil', where the protagonists are let off freely to have fun and provide the audience with plenty of laughs.
M Mohanan's film 'Oru Jaathi Jathakam' is somewhere close to the former in treatment but, unlike 'Guruvayoor...', the dialogues are unbelievably cheesy and audacious, almost like the makers wanted to give political correctness a miss to see how the audience might react to the jokes. This is at a time when many directors attempt to stay clear of gender-insensitive jokes, especially after the 'Kasaba' incident, in their movies.
The movie revolves around an obnoxious person, Mambarath Jayesh (Vineeth Sreenivasan), who is homophobic, casteist, sexist and chauvinistic and has an equally chauvinistic friend played by Mridul Nair, who believes men are from Mars and women from the kitchen.
Jayesh's quest for a soulmate, or dinosaur as his boss Babu (Babu Antony) says, is fodder for the humour as he keeps hitting a dead end every time he manages to find a girl.
His expectations are so high and preposterous. If you wish to ignore the 'politically incorrect' dialogues, the jokes are fun. However, the film's handling of homosexuality is problematic and may not be treated lightly by the LGBTQ community which has only begun to find proper representation recently in Malayalam films like 'Kaathal' and 'Moothon'. The filmmakers should be credited for bringing a few aspects of gay and lesbian relationships into the movie, but the treatment could have been better.
Vineeth is the life of the film and his character reminds you of his role in 'Mukundan Unni Associates'. Here too, his character is enjoyable and he proves yet again that he has a comic streak. His antics in 'Kurukkan' directed by Jayalal Devakaran were over the top, but still, his ability to handle satire and humour at his own expense, just like his father Sreenivasan should be appreciated.
The supporting cast, including Mridul Nair, Kayadu Lohar, Indu Thampy, Babu Antony, Sayanora Philip and PP Unnikrishnan, among others, do an excellent job. The songs by Guna Balasubramaniam and the background score capture the mood of the film. Overall, the film can be enjoyed for the situation, performances and the storyline, but may be challenged for its middling treatment.