In Bhaskar’s latest directorial Jack, Siddu Jonnalgadda plays Pablo, an enthusiastic, skilled, and aspiring RAW agent. Despite his many efforts, he fails in getting any validation from Manoj (Prakash Raj), a senior officer who continues to see Pablo’s attempts as amateurish. When the moment of validation finally arrives for Pablo, it’s right in the middle of a violent altercation with a villain figure—but Pablo is childlike enough to put his life at stake to get his validation. Much later in the film, a confrontation between Pablo and his father (VK Naresh) leads to an emotional moment, only to diffuse back into humour. Jack, despite revolving around a bunch of RAW agents and an impending terrorist attack, has this goofy vibe to it. There is a deliberate attempt to walk the fine line between tense and light-hearted. While the attempt remains admirable, Bhaskar struggles to hit the right note. The film’s biggest strength lies in its ability to not take itself seriously. Too bad, then, that Jack is brimming with too many ideas to remember to focus on its strengths.
Cast: Siddu Jonnalagadda, Prakash Raj, Vaishnavi Chaitanya
Director: Bhaskar
Is this a story about Pablo, the playful patriot? Or is this about a kooky, banter-filled work relationship between a rookie and a veteran? While the trailer promised for the film to focus on the latter, Bhaskar takes the entire first half to set up the conflict point, that is the idea of Pablo (Siddu) and Manoj (Prakash Raj in a sincere and effective performance) crossing each other’s paths. This languid energy of the first half actually works—We casually accompany Pablo on his many adventures as he interviews for a RAW officer post, convinces a police officer to be his accomplice on his self-annointed missions, and evades his father’s many attempts to unravel his secret life. Jack is a film that expects us to keep up with the pacey yet unlinked proceedings, especially in the first half, only to throw in the towel in the post-interval portions. The narrative struggles to balance the thrills of hunt for a terrorist squad and the humour when Pablo decides to repeatedly lock horns with Manoj. It’s not for the lack of intent, but rather the inability to pack in every element in a fun, coherent manner.
Fortunately, the handful of action sequences deliver the goods. Jack flourishes the most when it’s simply attempting to deliver visually engaging moments of action. The action setpiece that arrives at interval point is where the film comes the closest to its ambition of being a goofy yet stylish action caper. In another scene, Pablo and his rival fall from a rooftop, right in the middle of a bustling wedding procession—a small touch that adds plenty of favour to a run-of-the-mill visual like this. In these moments, you realise that the makers are trying to do these small different things, while attempting something familiar in the broader sense. Maybe that’s where the problem lies; Maybe Jack tries too hard. It is too eccentric to be accessible, and not inventive enough to stand apart.
There are many sequences where Bhaskar’s intent for a comic book tone is evident, especially in the scenes with Pablo and Afshaa. Vaishnavi Chaitanya as Afshaa puts in an interesting performance—particularly in a scene where Afshaa tries to get Pablo to spill beans about his mysterious pursuits—helping make sense of the cartoonish tone Bhaskar is going for. However, the writer-director is not consistent in the way he further develops the track between the two; their scenes only end up being obstructive in the narrative later on.
While Pablo remains a playful young rebel on the surface, there lies an emotional backstory to his love for his country, and it involves his bonding with his mother, who always taught Pablo to value intuition over rules and techniques. Pablo was always meant to be a quirky outlier, but this little conversation from the past lends his character a quiet solemnity. And yet, there is also a half-heartedness to the way these defining moments of Pablo’s journey are etched. At another point, the film reminds us of how Pablo’s impulsive nature is unfairly berated, instead of being celebrated. One only wishes Bhaskhar conceived of better moments that could keep us emotionally glued to Pablo’s goals instead of simply aiming to amuse us with his tomfoolery and colloquial one-liners.
Siddhu Jonnalagadda has a unique kind of stardom. Especially with his performances in the Tillu franchise, Siddhu has created an utterly likeable avatar and is now consciously embracing that vibe as part of his starry persona. Jack, while it makes for a good showcase for a place on Siddhu’s mantelpiece, is not nearly a competent film to hold on its own.