Jaggu Dada Movie Review: Jaggu Dada is a Timepass Film

Jaggu Dada Movie Review: Jaggu Dada is a Timepass Film

Saturday, August 18, 2018

Jaggu Dada Kannada Movie Review

Jaggu Dada is a Kannada action comedy film starring Darshan and Deeksha Seth in lead roles. Darshan plays the role of Jaggu Dada, the grandson of notorious "underworld don" Shankar Dada (played by P. Ravi Shankar). Jaggu Dada is directed by Raghavendra Hegde, who is also the producer and writer. So, Let's find how the film is, in this review.

Jaggu Dada Movie Review

Darshan's Jaggu Dada is a Timepass Film

The lead character of this film, Jaggu Dada, is a tattooed gutka/paan masala spitting rowdy, and every time he spits, the camera zooms in so that we could clearly witness his 'cool act'. Jaggu Dada beats up dozens of men single-handedly, and his only ambition in life is to make a huge name in the underworld and become an "International Don". And both his parents are hugely supportive of his dream ambition. Jaggu Dada's father Veeru Dada (played by Sharath Lohithashwa) is already the "Don" of Bengaluru.

The film starts with a short narration of Jaggu Dada's grandpa Shankar Dada's story and his rise in the world of crime and him becoming an "underworld don". Years later, Shankar Dada gets shot and spends his time in the hospital for years in coma. It is there in the hospital that he realizes that people don't respect him but only fear him. He returns home wheelchair-bound years later, to find out that his wife is dead leaving behind his son, Veeru. Now the enlightened Shankar Dada wants to transform into a good man, but still somehow, Shankar Dada's son Veeru Dada and grandson Jaggu Dada also follow the same path and become dreaded "Dons".

Jaggu Dada Movie Screengrab | Darshan in his 'cool act'

Jaggu Dada Movie Screengrab | Darshan dodging bullets!

Jaggu Dada's mother wants Jaggu Dada to marry Champa, but oldie Shankar Dada opposes it, because according to him, Champa is a "bad woman" because she is a "bar dancer" and will spoil Jaggu Dada and his future son! (Yeah, right!). Oldie wants Jaggu to marry a "Tradional" girl, but Jaggu's mothers disagrees and this gives the old man a heart attack. While on the deathbed, Shankar Dada blames all the women in his family for all that is wrong and bad-mouths them in front of Jaggu. Shankar urges Jaggu to give his word that he would marry a "traditional" girl and not Champa, and dies. Weeks later Shankar Dada's death, Jaggu forgets about his promise to his grandpa and is hanging out with Champa. But Sharkar Dada's spirit starts to appear everywhere and pesters Jaggu to marry a "traditional" girl. And hence begins Jaggu's bride hunt.

"Bar girl" Champa (Right)

"Traditional girl" Gouri

"Don" Shankar Dada

The story of Jaggu Dada is filled to brim with hyper masculine misogynistic characters, pandering to the masses. The film glorifies these characters, portrays them in a positive light and subtly approves their actions, reinforcing the societal biases and stereotypes. In this film, bar dancers by default are bad women; working women are bad; women who don't wear “appropriate” attire are bad; only the women who are 'nonworking fully covered timid obedient' are good. The stereotypes in Jaggu Dada are not just limited to gender, there is body & colour sterotyping and racial stereotyping as well. Take for example - A couple walks across the street, the man is dark-skinned and the woman is fair-skinned, on seeing this couple the "hero" exclaims, "even this guy has got a girl!".

Jaggu Dada is a quintessential Darshan film that is filled with commercial elements. Darshan does a good job playing his character 'Jaggu Dada' and he does it with ease. The film follows a linear narrative and flows smoothly with songs acting as speed breakers. The multiple sub-plots that keep getting added as the movie moves forward, makes the film dragged. Editing is good, but the film could have been shorter by at least 10-15 minutes. At 160 minutes runtime, the film feels stretched and becomes a tedious watch especially towards its end.

Jaggu Dada gets its basic filmmaking technicalities right and had the potential to be a fun film if only the writing hadn't sucked so much. The cinematography is well done and the locations, costumes and props make the film look rich. Background score is composed by V Harikrishna, and is decent. And all the actors do a decent-good job playing their respective roles.

Overall, Jaggu Dada is not a compelling film and becomes monotonous especially in its last half hour. But Jaggu Dada can be watched purely as a timepass film, only if you want to.

Rating - 2.5/5

- Review by Aditya.

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