Jai Bhim is a film written and directed by TJ Gnanavel and produced by Jyotika and Suriya under the banner 2D Entertainment. The film has Suriya, Manikandan and Lijomol Jose in the lead roles while Prakash Raj, Guru Somasundaram, Rao Ramesh, Tamilarasan and others play important supporting roles. The music is composed by Sean Roldan while SR Kathir handles the cinematography. The film is streaming on Amazon Prime Video. 

Rajakannu (Manikandan) and Sengeni (Lijomol Jose) are a couple that belong to the Irular Tribe. They have a girl child, and are expecting another one soon. They live in Konamalai near Villupuram, in sheer poverty. One day, Rajakannu and his friends are falsely accused of stealing jewellery and are taken into custody by the police. After being tortured in the lockup, they go missing, and Sengeni seeks the help of Advocate Chandru (Suriya) who is a Communist and Ambedkarite. The rest of the film deals with how Chandru fights for the justice of the Irular tribe people. 

There is a scene in the film where Sengeni is brought to a police station and the SI forces her to withdraw the case she's filed in the supreme court. The DGP (Jayaprakash) calls up the station and asks the SI to drop her back home. Cut to the next shot, she decides to walk all the way to her house, with the policemen running behind her, requesting her to get into the jeep. She doesn't pay heed to it and continues walking, past the people who stayed silent when her husband was humiliated in public, past the dominant caste president who refused to help her despite having the power to do so, in front of the police who slapped her and abused her. 

It is not just a 'mass' scene. It is more about the dignity of the tribe that's at stake. The self-respect that leaders like Periyar spoke reflects in that walk. Suriya, who plays advocate Chandru, is often seen with a sculpture of Karl Marx in the background, along with Ambedkar and Periyar. Now these pictures aren't just used as mere props. Instead, each frame reeks of the ideology these men spoke and the film is a fitting tribute to all three of them. 

It is not enough to look at the problems through a caste lens alone, and director TJ Gnanavel understands this very well. The film speaks for every marginalized person who lacks access to political power, and every working class person. In one of the initial courtroom scenes, Chandru argues for a person from a Scheduled Caste, because he was falsely accused of a crime. At that point, he says - only this specific person could afford to reach the court while others don't even have that privilege. 

Politics of the film apart, the director has extracted extraordinary performances from the cast. In fact, the writing is so good that the actors merely have to play second fiddle to it. Suriya continues his 'Soorarai Pottru' form and delivers a subtle, measured performance. The stars however are Lijomol Jose and Manikandan. Both of them make you feel the pain they go through, and also share impeccable chemistry in their romantic scenes. Among the supporting cast, Prakash Raj and Tamilarasan do justice to their characters, and the only blip among so many positives was Guru Somasundaram's character that could have been written better.

Sean Roldan's brilliant music and SR Kathir's camera work elevate the scenes several notches higher. The former, in particular, works in tandem with sound designers Alagiakoothan and Suren to create a mood that transports us to Konamalai. The violent scenes shown in the lockup remind us of Visaaranai, and the recent Kaavalthurai Ungal Nanban. The scenes are brutal and some might find it difficult to process the scenes. The courtroom scenes, although conveniently written, don't seem to hamper the film's ambitions. 

Jai Bhim is a film that's as powerful as it's title. It's an honest portrayal of the Irular tribe and the issues they face without stripping them of their self-respect and dignity. In addition to false cases, making a point for issuing lands to such tribes is a message that must be welcomed. Overall, the film entertains and engages you and ends up as one of the best films in recent times.