Jannal Oram Review
Director: Karu Palaniappan
Cast: Vimal, Parthipan, Poorna, Sanjay
Music: Vidyasagar
The two striking aspects in the Malayalam hit Ordinarywere the unexplored and beautiful locations and the powerhouse performance of Biju Menon who played the bus driver. The major problem with Jannal Oram a scene-by-scene remake of the original is the over-the top performances by lead actors, especially Parthipan.
Subbaiah(Vimal) has joined as a conductor and the driver of this bus is Karuppu (Parthipan) who is a loud, drunk, skit-chaser with a heart of gold.
Now the rest of the characters are being introduced almost in the routine format, as we usually see in most films of this genre.Sami (Vidyarth) is an unkempt looking pump operator, Poorna is a school teacher and then there is Kalyani (Manisha Yadav) who is in love with Subbu. A retired school master Annan sir (Rajesh), a drunkard, a priest, a local businessman Justin (Ramana), a teashop owner and his daughter include the supporting cast.
The entire first half is a painfully long build up to a more serious incident happening just before the intermission. The jokes are funny in parts, at best. Some of the characters appear at regular intervals to crack jokes and disappear quite conveniently. The same applies to the bus as well, which is operated only when the conductor and driver have nothing else to do!
If you are not too keen about the pattern, styling, script or characterization in a movie, chances are that Jannal Oram can turn out to be a watchable entertainer. With an ordinary script and a rather conventional narration, director Karu Palaniyappan has nothing much to do, but to attempt a cut& paste job from its Malayalam original.
Aribhindu Saaraa’s visuals are good and Vidyasagar’s tunes, though there are too many songs than what one would have liked, are okay. Vimal sleep walks through in his typical style and dialogue delivery, while Partipan hams it up big time. Among the girls Poorna is impressive while Manisha is a mis-cast. Why was her wig looking bad and make-up so patchy?
Vidyarth has nothing much to do while Ramana and Sanjay shines in small roles. In the end, Jannal Oram turns out to be poor remake with some clichéd dialogues and weak performances.
