JANATHA GARAGE MOVIE REVIEW

Tollywood is due to give a big hit this year. Apart from Allu Arjun’s Sarrainodu, none of the big budget action flicks have turned out to be an outright winner. Overbeaten stereotypical mass films have not been welcomed by the Telugu audience in the recent past. And just when people were fishing for a decent commercial entertainer, Koratala Siva has served them a potential winner.

Koratala Siva is no more a surprise package, he is turning out to be one of the good commercial film directors. He has dealt with 3 different topics in the 3 films that he has made with very little resemblance to each other. This is something that every commercial director has to keep in mind. Siva also looks to be a socially responsible film maker and he seems to know his target audience very well and what they would expect in a big film.

Janatha Garage is all about a garage located in Hyderabad which stands against injustice. A bunch of inspiring mechanics team together to fight for the needy. Over the years, their brand gets bigger but they become older. In the meanwhile there is a setback and that is when our hero comes to the fray. The rest of the story is about what the protagonist does after this.

A powerhouse performer like Jr. NTR needs a powerful script like this to unleash his skills. He plays a natural lover, someone who has a very peculiar character. He keeps preaching people on social awareness all the time. If you find someone like him in real life, you will wonder if he is actually okay. He is such an alienated perfectionist that you hardly get to see in real life. But Koratala Siva has made people love a character like this which indicates his directorial touch. Even when Tarak preaches, you would find subtle punch lines which would not only make you clap but also think.

Mohan Lal also gets his fair quota of screen time and enough clap winning moments. The first 30 minutes of the film belong to him. One feels that he should have dubbed for himself, it would have increased the intensity of his performance. A veteran actor like him who this nation has been seeing for the past 30years should not have used a dubbing artist.

It is a well-made script. The initial part of the film talks about the rise of Janatha Garage on one side and how a future leader is being evolved on the other side.

It sure sounds riveting on paper and the power of the script can also be visualized on screen. The script, however doesn’t give adequate room for the female leads to showcase their talent. Samantha and Nithya Menen have been used like how most commercial directors do - make them cry in a couple of scenes, use them for few comedies and make them dance for a song or two.

Devi Sri Prasad and cameraman Tirru have supported Siva beautifully well with their respective departments. DSP scores high on BGM and has also made us hum a couple of songs long after the film. Apart from a couple of mistimed jump cuts, Kotagiri Venkateswara Rao’s editing look very seamless.