I’ve always felt Kung Fu-ey after watching a Jackie Chan film. Scaling a wall or delivering a flying kick to a bully would seem very doable.
I had the same feeling coming out of the AGS theatre in T Nagar, after watching NTR Jr’s Jai Lava Kusa. I felt I could be a brilliant dancer and stage performer!
NTR Jr plays triplets, estranged early on in life, who then meet under unexpected circumstances. There’s a couple of songs, some typically chaotic yet peppy dance numbers, and an item number right at the end, featuring Tamaannah of Baahubali fame.
Identical Triplets, Totally Unlike Each Other!
For those who believed in NTR Jr during his overweight-yet-flexible early days, this movie is a true “I-Told-You-So” moment.
For the rest of us, it is a revelation. Pulling off a ‘judwaa’ role isn’t that difficult, and it works really well for cheap laughs in a masala film. But NTR Jr’s Jai, and Lava and Kusa are almost completely different from each other on paper. One is all rage, vengeance and unrequited desire for fame. Another is all good, harmless and honest to a fault. And the third is all rogue, sly and shallow.
NTR Jr brings each of these characters alive, not just in the difference in the accent, but in body language, and in the way each emotes the same feeling. Jai and Lava and Kusa all feel love, but express it in completely different facial inflections. And that is a treat to watch.
It really feels like there are three different protagonists in the movie, who just happen to look the same. I’m sorry I’m gushing slightly, but NTR Jr has proved his acting chops, in every possible sense with this movie.
A One-Man Show
Telugu films are usually hero-centric, with little or no depth or even focus given to the females. Jai Lava Kusa is no different. The two heroines are but plot pieces used to move the story in a different direction, when there’s nothing in the plot to change the status quo.
The Telugu and The Climax
Jai Lava Kusa feels like an extension of a Telugu stage play, very reminiscent of a Ramleela, which is the overarching theme here. Comparisons are drawn to the characters of the Ramayana oft and anon, and the movie ends in a climactic on-stage showdown between the three brothers. At least, it should have ended with this, but it then drags on into a fight with the villains.
Telugu cinema doesn’t shy away from using Telugu. What I mean is that unlike in mainstream Bollywood or Kollywood cinema, the actors here speak in a variety of dialects and don’t shy away from chaste, old-fashioned drama-style Telugu, which other languages shy away from, for fear of driving away the crowds.
Jai Lava Kusa, at almost three hours is almost completely devoid of lags, and runs through like a breeze. It’s NTR Jr all the way through till the end. And for the price of one ticket, you get three heroes, all fully fleshed out. And that, is one heck of a weekend deal.
The movie is directed by K S Ravindra, and features forgettable music (except for Raavana’s soundtrack) by Devi Sri Prasad.
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