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'Jana Gana Mana' review: Prithviraj-starrer is an epic, high-impact political thriller

One of the most remarkable qualities about Dijo Jose Antony's Jana Gana Mana is how it maintains a sense of urgency throughout its entire duration (close to three hours). It behaves like an extended third act of a suspense thriller. When it opens, a grave event has already occurred. Emotions are already running high. It dangles what passes as truth in front of you, and for a while, you buy it. But whose version of the truth are you being sold? Is it that of the media, cops, or lawyers?

It's only when a barrister, Aravind Swaminathan (Prithviraj Sukumaran), shows up in court and starts busting one 'truth' after another that your perceptions begin to alter gradually. Jana Gana Mana is like a Rubik's cube whose 'true' combination changes every few minutes. It follows a Rashomon-style way of seeking the truth without emulating the Akira Kurosawa classic's screenplay structure.

The other impressive quality about Jana Gana Mana is how it feels like three or four movies rolled into one. As each layer comes undone, one imagines all kinds of tangents the film can go in. I can't recall the last time a Malayalam film did that to me. (If you're wondering why I haven't mentioned anything about the story yet, then I have to tell you that I'm trying to find a way to write this review without giving away any major plot points.)

Jana Gana Mana brings together Prithviraj and Suraj Venjaramoodu again after the immensely successful Driving Licence (currently being remade in Hindi as Selfiee). Naturally, you expect great things from any film involving them after that. And Jana Gana Mana doesn't disappoint. I don't know if it would be fair to say whether one film is better than the other. Both actors deliver what is expected of them. Their characters in Jana Gana Mana are miles apart from those in Driving Licence.

Do I need to mention Suraj's impressive range at this point? The first hour is devoted entirely to Suraj's police character, Sajjan Kumar, who is assigned to contain a violent JNU-type situation at a large university in Karnataka. I'm not going into all the spoilerish details because this movie is packed with plenty of information. I would rather the viewer approach this film the same way I did - with as little information as possible.

It uses various picked-from-the-headlines incidents from recent memory as inspirations to make piercing statements about many ills currently plaguing the country. And among the contemporary superstars, I can't think of anyone better than Prithviraj to deliver piercing dialogues that reverberate across the courtroom walls and everyone sitting in the movie hall.

And Shammi Thilakan seems to have had much fun being the rival litigator. He is, I must add, the primary source of humour in the film - and I don't mean the unintentional kind. Yes, certain areas in Jana Gana Mana get slightly theatrical and loud, but why should one expect the vibe of a Dileesh Pothan or Rajeev Ravi film from it?

Jana Gana Mana is a big-scale, mass-appeal entertainer in the vein of the political thrillers that Renji Panicker wrote for Shaji Kailas in the early 90s or what Dennis Joseph wrote for Joshiy or Thampi Kannanthanam in the 80s. Parts of Jana Gana Mana evoked the spirit of films like Thalasthanam (1992), Bhoomiyile Rajakkanmar (1987), New Delhi (1987), and Pathram (1999).

But where Jana Gana Mana stands out is how, in terms of the statements it makes, it dares to be bolder than the above films. As much as I hold the writers and filmmakers of that era in high regard, I don't think they would have addressed issues like marginalisation and sensationalism to the degree that it is done here. I'm glad that we are no longer living in the 80s and 90s.

By the end of Jana Gana Mana, we get a sense of the personalities of Aravind and Sajjan. But it's not over. The film opens up the possibilities of exploring more sides to them that we haven't seen before.

We are told, through Aravind, that the story has only begun. (The makers had already announced the sequel plan.) This approach is refreshing because, unlike the other epic two-parters like Baahubali, KGF, or Pushpa, Jana Gana Mana dares to be epic in terms of topicality.

It is indeed an epic, but in terms of storytelling ambitions, not the visuals. The first film opened many cans of worms, and I hope its successor opens many more too. And as a fan of Prithviraj and Suraj, I can't wait to see what surprises they would spring in that one.

Director: Dijo Jose Antony

Cast: Prithviraj Sukumaran, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Mamta Mohandas, Vincy Aloshious, Shari

Rating: 4/5

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Jana Gana Mana

As a college professor's brutal murder sparks student unrest, a cop launches an investigation while a lawyer seeks justice in the the courtroom. As a college professor's brutal murder sparks student unrest, a cop launches an investigation while a lawyer seeks justice in the the courtroom. As a college professor's brutal murder sparks student unrest, a cop launches an investigation while a lawyer seeks justice in the the courtroom.

• Dijo Jose Antony
• Sharis Mohammed
• Prithviraj Sukumaran
• Suraj Venjaramoodu
• Mamta Mohandas
• 214 User reviews
• 9 Critic reviews
• 6 nominations

Top cast 29

• Aravind Swaminathan

• Sajjan Kumar

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• Pavan Shetty

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• Anitha Nair

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• Trivia A virtuos movie with blatant propaganda. First half has story building and in second part only one community is shown as villain.
• Goofs When Prithvi Raj is questioning the editor of the newspaper, on the back of the news paper, COVID-19 related incidents are present. Since the movie is taking place in June 2019 COVID would not have existed.

Aravind Swaminathan : Instant tea, instant coffee, instant justice!

User reviews 214

• nidhunmoviebuff
• Apr 27, 2022
• How long is Jana Gana Mana? Powered by Alexa
• April 28, 2022 (India)
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• ₹100,000,000 (estimated)

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• Runtime 2 hours 42 minutes

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Jana Gana Mana review: Prithvi, Suraj-starrer an intense thriller with a lofty message

Intriguing court scenes and power-packed dialogues always elicit audience interest in theatres. And when the scenes are handled by a director and scriptwriter who know their craft, the movie gets an edge.

'Jana Gana Mana' directed by Dijo Jose Anthony and scripted by Sharis Mohammed, is a lofty experiment dissecting the conflict between truth and perception. Is truth always what it seems to be, does law have no place in matters of conscience and why does selective outcry happen in a society are questions that are explored in the movie. Power politics also form the crust of the film.

'Jana Gana Mana' with its mass dialogues and unexpected twists reminds us a lot of the times we live in. By touching on topics like casteism, anti-nationalism and infiltration of hooligans in college politics, the makers have tried to stay as realistic to the present day issues as possible.

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'Jana Gana Mana' trailer featuring scenes of the movie's second part?

Prithviraj, who always promises to deliver a brilliant performance in every film, is seen playing a different role in the movie. Though his dialogues have been well-written, only a few sides of his story are revealed in the movie. The rest may only be answered in the sequel which was announced by the makers last month.

Suraj Venjaramoodu plays Sajan Kumar, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Karnataka, who is deputed to solve the rape and killing of a strong and socially-responsible college professor, played by Mamta Mohandas, from the Central University in Ramanagara. Suraj, who had played a motor vehicle inspector in 'Driving License' which was his earlier collaboration with Prithviraj, shines as the determined police officer with different shades in 'Jana Gana Mana'.

Though there are several sub-plots in the movie, the makers have crafted the movie deftly without leaving loose ends. However, there is a lag at certain parts but this is compensated quickly with the twists and turns in the movie.

Vincy Aloshious as the fiery Gouri does justice to her role. Shari, who plays Sabha's mother, Azhagham Perumal who plays the home minister and Shammi Thilakan also play their part convincingly. The movie has the scope to be labeled as a pan-Indian film because the issue it explores is not limited to one state, but India as a whole. The movie characters speak in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi and English.

The shots have been brilliantly captured by Sandeep Elamon. Though there are very few songs in the movie, Jakes Bejoy has compensated it with some quality BGM. Sreejith Sarang is the editor of the film. 'Jana Gana Mana', Supriya Menon and Listen Stephen, is a delightful, must-watch movie with an intense portrayal of the present times.

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Home » Review » Jana Gana Mana movie review: Prithviraj’s socio-political drama poses relevant, thought-provoking questions »

Jana Gana Mana movie review: Prithviraj’s socio-political drama poses relevant, thought-provoking questions

When you consider that Jana Gana Mana also aims at showing how the storytelling elements play out in forming the perception of a larger social conscience, the way its director Dijo Jose Antony and scriptwriter Sharis Muhammed have narrated the tale is masterly 

• Sanjith Sidhardhan

Last Updated: 08.26 AM, Jun 01, 2022

Story: After a college lecturer’s body is found burnt, it becomes national news when students seeking justice for her murder are confronted by police brutality on their campus. This forces the government to handover the investigation to ACP Sajjan Kumar, who promises the lecturer’s mother that he would apprehend the culprits and see that justice is served within a month. The measures he takes, however, has him battling a legal case with the Human Rights Commission.

Review: Right at the interval of Dijo Jose Antony’s socio-political film Jana Gana Mana, one of its protagonists stares at a quote from Mahatma Gandhi: “In matters of conscience, the law of majority has no place.” It’s almost antithetical that the quotation finds a place in a court of law, but that’s what Dijo and the film’s scriptwriter Sharis Muhammed do in Jana Gana Mana – challenge personal and social bias and put forth questions to the audience to get them to take note of various factors – manipulated or genuine – that shape up their perception.

The movie’s core story is about a mother seeking justice for the death of her daughter Saba Mariam (Mamta Mohandas). However, various trials - by the media, cops and then later in a courtroom – reveal different versions of the truth about what actually transpired the night that the college lecturer was killed.

Dijo, who is only directing his second film after Queen, uses a clever approach to narrate the tale, which despite being socially relevant and filled with hard-hitting truths is ultimately packaged as an entertainer. The filmmaker has mainly divided the film into two chapters – one that follows its lead investigating officer Sajjan Kumar, who has been appointed to probe the case after it captures the attention of the nation and the second, while he is on trial. Prithviraj Sukumaran’s Aravind Swaminathan features in the latter half as a lawyer, who also has a past – glimpses of which appear sporadically in the beginning and is then quickly shown in the third act, more as a prologue to a sequel.

Jana Gana Mana is one of those rare big films where all departments fire in equal measure. While Sharis’ script and dialogues are the strength of the film, Jakes Bejoy’s music elevates the movie, by ensuring that all the characters and their plight emotionally connect with the audience. In fact, Dijo has used the music to influence the emotions of the viewers so well. When you consider that the film also aims at showing how these elements play out in forming the perception of a larger social conscience on ‘instant justice,’ it’s almost a masterstroke – where the director uses the very same tactic to prod the viewers to question the factors that manipulate their emotions.

The movie, while set in Karnataka, has a mix of dialogues in Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam, thus allowing the audience to get the sense of its vast canvas. But it also serves to accentuate that the story could happen anywhere in India – and not just in territories defined by a particular language. The core story is a mix of several real-life incidents that have shocked the country at large in the recent years including the 2019 rape and murder of a veterinarian doctor in Hyderabad and its aftermath. The movie also conveys that just because equally appalling horrors that happen every hour in the country go unreported as they are not ‘news-worthy’ enough, it doesn’t mean they deserve any less anger. In fact, it stresses multiple times that the perpetrators use “your silence as their licence”. The makers also shine the spotlight on the media for being the judge, jury and executioner in several cases and influencing the outcome of a larger populace.

Despite being on screen only in the second half, Prithviraj is exemplary in his role as a cynical lawyer. He brings a mix of gusto and anguish to his character’s defense arguments, shaking you to the core and then some. Dijo has also used his character to show the voice of resolute defiance armed with truth, thereby making it stand apart from that of the dissent of the youth. Suraj Venjaramoodu as ACP Sajjan shows he is an actor capable of seamlessly playing any shade. While the reason for his casting becomes apparent, it justifies the character’s overall arc. Mamta Mohandas plays the role of Saba with relative ease, and shows once again why she’s a capable performer in her scene where she confronts the college authorities. Vincy Aloshius and Shammi Thilakan put on surprisingly brilliant performances in the film as a college student seeking justice and a senior lawyer defending a protagonist, respectively.

The technical aspects of the movie – be it Sudeep Elamon’s cinematography or Sreejith Sarang’s editing – serves to magnify the scope of the movie, while never releasing the audience once it gets you hooked, right after the college protests. The film’s casting department too deserves special mention with actors such as Pavan Shetty and Raja Krishnamoorthy being cast in roles that exude power – but of contrasting kind.

That said, the movie isn’t without its flaws. The third act is sloppily pieced together, mainly because it falls for the sequel trap like some of the recent big-budget, star-driven Malayalam films. The past of Prithviraj’s character is almost retrofitted to the story, which would have been better if it was contained in a single film. Also, the pieces of what the viewers get to see from his past isn’t coherent enough until viewed in the second movie and thus only serves in prolonging Jana Gana Mana, which is at 162 minutes long.

Verdict: Wrapped as a gripping entertainer packed with brilliant performances, Dijo Jose Antony’s Jana Gana Mana puts forth thought-provoking questions to the audience and makes for a must-watch, if you are a fan of socio-political thrillers.

Jana Gana Mana is available to stream on Netflix from June 2.

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Jana Gana Mana Review: Suraj Venjaramoodu Shines in Dijo Jose Antony’s Second Shot at a Social Justice Film

(Spoiler Alert)

Courtrooms in Indian mainstream cinema are akin to theatre. There are artists and an audience, rendition of the hyperbole and abandonment of objectivity. The actors belt out long dialogue, while the camera impassively records the faces and the proceedings.

The courtrooms in director Dijo Jose Antony ’s films – Queen (2018) and the latest, Jana Gana Mana – are loud and explosive, headlined by a lawyer, the superhero in a black coat, who is immune to character development. He lashes out at everyone in the room and the audience, occupying a moral ground so high that one would need a telescope to sight them from the earth. In Queen , Salim Kumar played an angry lawyer who turned the entire latter half of the film into a tirade. In Jana Gana Mana , Prithviraj trembles in rage and terrorises the courtroom. The film, centred on the death of a college professor Saba ( Mamta Mohandas ), argues against media trials in high-profile cases. It asks the viewers to not succumb to sentimentalism but look for what lies beyond the obvious. Ironically, Jana Gana Mana uses the same language of hyperbole it warns the audience against.   

The film unfolds in the fictional town of Ramnagara in Karnataka, in a central university that eerily resembles Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). The scenes of student protest and subsequent police violence on the campus take cues from the press reports on the incidents that unfolded in JNU in January 2020.   

Subtlety, clearly, is not Dijo’s strength. The narrative teems with expository dialogue and scenes. In an early scene set on the college campus, at Saba’s memorial service, the chairman of the university takes the podium and delivers an offensive speech, blaming Saba for stepping out at night and terming the student protests in connection to her death part of a larger anti-national movement. Not just him but all the villains in Jana Gana Mana proclaim their villainy and reveal their carefully chalked out plans in casual phone calls or on public platforms. The film’s audacity to speak up against India’s dangerous right-wing nationalism and the ingrained misogyny of Indian society is rare and praiseworthy. But Dijo’s assumption that the evil likes to flaunt itself is a fatal error.  

Similar absurdities, contradictions and empty rhetoric are plenty in Jana Gana Mana . The background score ( Jakes Bejoy ) is relentless, loud and too passionate, a sonic equivalent of the film’s characters. The student leaders, played by Vincy Mathew and Dhruv, are simplified into wannabe revolutionaries whose courage is marked by their angry rants and valiant screams. In the final part of the film, the students and the audience at the court, who had been passionately listening to the lawyer’s arguments against mob justice, fling themselves into yet another act of mob violence, vandalising police vehicles and baying for the blood of the cops. The lawyer, whose superpower is his self-righteousness, berates the honourable judge and the witnesses for their hypocrisy and prejudice against people who come from a certain socio-economic background. Yet, Saba, who holds the film’s emotional narrative together, is always framed like a cliched angel, the camera highlighting Mamta’s glowing face, impeccable smile and upper-class demeanour. There are more victims in the film, who resemble people like you and me, but they get nothing more than a story lazily lifted from newspaper headlines.  

Dijo finds a great lead character in assistant commissioner Sajan Kumar, played by Suraj Venjaramoodu , but he gropes in the darkness about structuring a character arc for him. Great films conceal clues to create delicious plot twists, mediocre films put up charades. The viewer should feel betrayed by the big reveal in the climactic scene as the film had, until then, given them the feeling that they were privy to Sajan’s subjective point of view of the events. The hurried negation of this impression is the film’s weakest link.   

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Dijo crams several issues into the narrative. But he makes a daring move by pointing out the ingrained social biases in the media reporting of sexual harassment cases in a country that likes to consecrate its young rape-murder victims. By far, the best element of the film is Suraj’s portrayal of Sajan. His grey shades come through very well in his introduction scene when he negotiates with a group of protesting students and gains entry to the college campus. “They are just students, not an army of Taliban,” he remarks to his subordinate and walks to the student leaders, quickly concealing his contempt and switching to a position of empathy. In the end, the film is taken over by Prithviraj’s thundering speeches, but Suraj’s subtle mannerisms and careful body language stay memorable. The actor effortlessly turns Sajan into someone who deserves your pity and wrath.  

This Jana Gana Mana review is a Silverscreen original article. It was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the movie. Silverscreen.in and its writers do not have any commercial relationship with movies that are reviewed on the site.

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Jana gana mana.

Directed by Dijo Jose Antony

Ramanagara wakes up to a series of events that shocks the entire Nation. In this crisis, two individuals with two different perspectives on law and justice intervene to define the truth.

Prithviraj Sukumaran Suraj Venjaramoodu Mamta Mohandas Vincy Aloshious Shari Sri Divya Shammi Thilakan Kitty Ilavarasu Dhanya Ananya Druvan G. M. Sundar Priyanka Nair Vaishnavi Venugopal Vinod Sagar Harikrishnan Pasupathi Raj Rajesh Balraj Josekutty Jacob Vijayakumar Chithra Iyer Midhun Venugopal Dijo Jose Antony Geethi Sangeetha Sagar Surya Dileep Menon Bensi Mathews Mammootty

Director Director

Dijo Jose Antony

Producers Producers

Supriya Menon Listin Stephen Justin Stephen

Writer Writer

Sharis Mohammed

Editor Editor

Sreejith Sarang

Cinematography Cinematography

Sudeep Elamon

Assistant Director Asst. Director

Kiran Raphel

Executive Producer Exec. Producer

Naveen P Thomas

Production Design Production Design

Dileep Nath

Stunts Stunts

Billa Jagan

Composer Composer

Jakes Bejoy

Sound Sound

M. R. Rajakrishnan Sachin Sudhakaran Hari Haran

Costume Design Costume Design

Stephy Zaviour

Makeup Makeup

Ronex Xavier

Magic Frames Prithviraj Productions

Primary Language

Spoken languages.

Bengali, Bangla Kannada Hindi English Malayalam Tamil

Releases by Date

28 apr 2022, releases by country.

• Theatrical UA

162 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by ash ★★★ 5

You ask something in Malayalam He replies in Kannada So you reply to that in Tamil While he replies in Telugu Then both of you decide to speak in Hindi. Then you speak most of whatever you've spoken in Malayalam.

The world is not yet ready for this.

Review by brutalkangaroo

Suraj is awesome as usual and Rajuvettan is on demon time, which is enough for me to be entertained.

I have many issues with the movie. But despite that, I would highly recommend you go watch it.

At the very least, ആറേതാ പൂറേതാ എന്നറിയാത്ത ഒരു ലിബറൽ ഹാഷ്ടാഗ് വാണം ആവാതിരിക്കാൻ എങ്കിലും ഈ സിനിമ നിങ്ങളെ സഹായിക്കട്ടെ.

Review by Michael James ★★★

The main factors holding this drama in the effective zone are its perspective based narrative structure and strong performances from Suraj Venjaramoodu- Prithiviraj. Though it makes impactful commentary on numerous highly relevant socio political issues, the convenient writing and manipulative approach makes it a bit tedious at places. A better cohesive writing could have really turned it powerful. The climax was solid. On the whole, ends up a decent watch.

Review by NimmUwU ★★½ 15

Me watching dijo make yet another movie with the old climaxil pidicholam baki maraneku format

Imagine this is a courtroom and I'm RajuA10 (ihihihihihih)

yentukondanu your honour itpoloru normal padatinu avasanam claps kitiyatu? entinu? why? ee padatil paranjirikuna pole.... vikaram... emotions Comicaly evil characters indaki, Socially relevant sangal kanichu, ita noku we live in a society moments kanichu prekshakane itu ento veliya andi anenu kanicha avarude emotions elaki vitu vanatanu aa claps your honour! Atu tudakatilea manasilakan anu dijo tane cameo vanu atu paranjathu ! YES! emotional manipulation anu itu!

ihihihih ends here

RajuA10 mwuthu tho 🥰😘 and parayan agrahicha kariyavum was good (but atum keri dijo oombichu) Kuruthi bridge climaxil aru jayichu enu itil hint cheyind 😁

Review by Nakul ★★★½

Jana Gana Mana was a bold & evocative social thriller & courtroom drama features two excellent central performances from Prithviraj & Suraj. The movie gets the broad strokes right and gets its point across pretty well. The twist is great and the movie effectively builds tension in the second half through a series of powerful arguments & monologues en route to a rousing pay-off. Tho, it just would have been better movie if it was more focused and towards the third act it feels like it tried to be too many things at once. Anyways, the basic effectiveness is undeniable.

Review by cinema_made ★★½ 1

Jana Gana Mana is an unevenly toned social thriller that goes dangerously close to being exaggerated, dramatized and soon becomes exhausting. The meaning of subtlety and being grounded is the true identity of Malayalam Cinema for which I adore it. Jana Gana Mana confuse you with the location, language and even the dramatic narrative. I don't why a Malayalam film, set in Karnataka, has so many Tamil dialogues? I couldn't even find Kananda for a lengthy bit. Jana Gana Mana looses it's identity in its bloated attempt to be movie across states and languages.

Jana Gana Mana draws on this and multiple other news developments and newsmakers from real life throughout the script in big and small ways. The first…

Review by arsheeza ★★★

I think for various reasons Jana Gana Mana has proven that why political relevancy has been a part of our society and it's very clear to pinpoint yourself to why they still need the support. Yes, it can be caricaturish which I will come to that point later but I do think it's a very good attempt of how politics is a dirty game for one representative party and can ruin people's life.

I am not the biggest fan of Dijo's first film i.e Queen which I do feel like it's so overly preachy and stupid film to say the least. I appreciate the attempt itself which can be told for a relevant subject matter but man, the execution itself…

Review by oru_dude

i finished Breaking Bad today morning. (noting here just to remind myself)

about janaganamana, it felt like the director just wanted everyone to think pulli oru sambhavam aanen. the only merit i see is the movie's selection of theme but they decided to delve in it as much as scrolling through 10 instagram stories would.

so i assume, they chose this theme simply because it is easy to keep us entertained. Easy to create scenarios that end up keeping us engaged. Enough so that when the movie eventually does exactly whatever it criticises, it seems heroic.

this movie seems to be made with a "I don't know man, i wasn't thinking of this while watching the movie" logic.

Review by Vishwas Verma 🟠🟢🔵 ★★★★½

Based on true events. Provoking, a heart-wrenching political drama with powerful writing. The first half belongs to Suraj and then... Prithviraj nailed it in the second half.

Everyone should see this.

Review by cyril 11

something I noticed in the film, not necessarily a criticism or a positive remark - -

before watching this film I had seen an interview of Prithviraj a couple of days ago. he said something along the lines of how Jana Gana Mana is a "pan-indian" film but not in the conventional sense where it is a crossover of actors, but a crossover of themes and the whole "this could happen anywhere at any point in time". one thing that he said that interested me was that this movie is presented in such a way that said time and place did not matter as this is a story that has happened, has been happening and will probably happen again.

Review by St. Sebastian ★★★½

The story of Saba Mariyam, a young college professor played by Mamta Mohandas, who stood up against injustice and taught her students to fight against lies and oppression, took a tragic turn when she was brutally raped and burned alive, as everyone believed. The investigation hit a dead end, and the authorities seemed to be obstructing justice. However, police inspector Sajjan Kumar, played by Suraj Venjaramoodu, took matters into his own hands and executed the criminals without a trial. This vigilante act was hailed by the media as a triumph of justice and revenge. The once student protesters now saw the policeman as a national hero, a symbol of hope and justice.

But things are not always as they seem.…

Review by jwalsana ★★★ 2

1. The three stars are solely for the who's the hero who's the villain conflict in the second half cause I did not see that coming 2. DON'T TELL ME Y'ALL DIDN'T KRINJ AT THE DIALOGUES AND STUFF IN THE FIRST HALF LIKE BRO THAT'S SOME ASIANET PARASPARAM DEEPTI SOORAJ IPS LEVEL SHIT 3. Queen worked and Dijo literally yassified the plot with less collegesh and less funnesh and thought no one's gonna notice 4. RajuA10s weird ass kuruthi character got weirder and as someone who's been following up on Johnny Depp's trials for 2 days, I'm qualified enough to say BRO YOU'RE IN A FUCKING COURT AND YOU'RE A FUCKING LAWYER RAJU STOP TRYING TO BE AN EDGELORD AND…

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‘Jana Gana Mana’ movie review: Gets its politics right, not so much the execution

After a not-so-great debut in ‘queen,’ filmmaker dijo jose antony widens the scale of his ambition in his sophomore effort.

April 28, 2022 04:54 pm | Updated April 29, 2022 01:41 pm IST

A still from ‘Jana Gana Mana’

To make people question some of their deeply-rooted biases, no amount of speeches or hurling of facts and proofs at them can pay off at times. A better way to go about it might be to first appeal to their biases, and slowly start chipping it away from within. Filmmaker Dijo Jose Antony and screenwriter Sharis Mohammed go by this maxim in the film Jana Gana Mana.

In quite an interesting set-up, at the interval point, they get the audience to cheer for encounter killings — which is unfortunately quite popular in our society too — only to spend the next half showing why that whole idea is wrong. But, at least in cinema, people would like the rug being pulled from beneath their feet, which is why many ended up cheering both for the idea and the dismantling of it.

At the centre of the narrative is a University in Karnataka. The charred body of Saba (Mamta Mohandas), an outspoken professor who stands up against the administration for various issues concerning the students, is found near the highway, leading to major student protests. In scenes reminiscent of the real world, the police beat up the protesting students brutally. The trust in the police is abysmally low among the students when Sajjan Kumar (Suraj Venjaramoodu) takes charge of the investigation in a seemingly purposeful manner.

Jana Gana Mana

Director: dijo jose antony, cast: suraj venjaramoodu, prithviraj, mamta mohandas.

After a not so great debut in Queen , filmmaker Dijo Jose Antony widens the scale of his ambition in his sophomore effort. The contemporary debates in the country, around the growth of far right politics, which survives on constant stirring of the communal pot and dissemination of hate propaganda, must certainly have been playing in the screenwriter's mind while writing the film.

But despite its right intent and partly interesting structure, the making is quite uneven. Much of the treatment is loud and over-dramatic, especially the court scenes in the latter half. While it meanders pointlessly in the initial campus scenes, too much is said in quite a few rushed sequences towards the end. Much of this has to do with the mystery around Prithviraj's character, who re-appears only at the interval point, after an introduction in the prologue. The script also banks on all the incessant talking that this character does, not only to convey its political ideas, but also to reveal the twists in the tale.

Yet for all its cinematic flaws, the film does not hold anything back as far as the politics that it wants to speak. It raises uncomfortable debates on how those who raise questions are branded and targeted, how the media sets narratives at the behest of the establishment, how it plays into the inherent biases of the common people, and how the politics of identity is used to divide people for votes.

Jana Gana Mana is currently running in theatres

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Malayalam cinema / reviews / Indian cinema

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Jana Gana Mana (2022)

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Ramanagara wakes up to a series of events that shocks the entire Nation. In this crisis, two individuals with two different perspectives on law and justice intervene to define the truth.

Dijo Jose Antony

Sharis Mohammed

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Prithviraj Sukumaran

DCP Aravind Swaminathan

Suraj Venjaramoodu

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Saba Mariam

Vincy Aloshious

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Raghuram Iyer

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Original Title ജന ഗണ മന

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Original Language Malayalam

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Jana Gana Mana

Jana Gana Mana: Release Date, Trailer, Songs, Cast

• Release Date 28 April 2022
• Language Malayalam
• Dubbed In Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada
• Genre Action, Thriller
• Cast Prithviraj Sukumaran, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Mamta Mohandas, Sri Divya, Dhruvan, Shari, Shammi Thilakan, Pasupathy, Azhagam Perumal, Ilavarasu, Vinod Sagar, Vincy Aloshious, Midhun, Hari Krishnan
• Director Dijo Jose Antony
• Writer Sharis Mohammed
• Cinematography Sudeep Elamon
• Music Jakes Bejoy
• Producer Supriya Menon, Listin Stephen
• Production Prithviraj Productions, Magic Frames
• Certificate 16+

About Jana Gana Mana Movie (2022)

Mild-mannered Bengaluru-based business actuary Abbas Jafar Adeni (Prithviraj Sukumaran) is devastated by the death of his college-going sibling.

He seeks justice from the Karnataka police department which is headed by ACP Sajan Kumar I.P.S. (Suraj Venjaramoodu), but soon realises that nobody is bothered to help him.

Abbas snaps and turns into a violent criminal law enforcer who serves justice in his own violent way.

Jana Gana Mana Movie Cast, Release Date, Trailer, Songs and Ratings

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• What is the release date of 'Jana Gana Mana'? Release date of Vijay Deverakonda and Janhvi Kapoor starrer 'Jana Gana Mana' is 2023-08-03.
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Jana Gana Mana movie review: Suraj Venjaramoodu rises above a script that lacks cohesion, clarity, depth, finesse and calm

Jana Gana Mana is undistinctive, notwithstanding its brave throwaway lines and moments that made my liberal heart sit up and take notice.

Language: Malayalam

The spotlight falls on the superstar of the new Malayalam film, Jana Gana Mana , only in the second half of the narrative. Once the camera rests on Prithviraj Sukumaran’s character though, it rarely moves away from him as he belts out speech after speech…after speech…after speech…steeped in powerful messaging that, despite the loudness and melodrama of those scenes, is largely well reasoned.

A film has to be more than the message/s it wishes to drive home though. And messages are conveyed by more than just speeches. Neither point appears to have struck director Dijo Jose Antony or writer Sharis Mohammed.

The tension pervading Jana Gana Mana is sparked by news of the rape and death of a popular college lecturer called Sabha Maryam (Mamta Mohandas). What follows is an apathetic response from her institution, student unrest, nationwide outrage, sensationalised media coverage and finally, a police encounter that sparks hysterical approval from the masses and celebrities. Sounds familiar?

The case of a doctor in Hyderabad who was raped and murdered after which the accused were killed by the police when they allegedly tried to escape is still fresh in public memory.

Jana Gana Mana draws on this and multiple other news developments and newsmakers from real life throughout the script in big and small ways. For instance, a point is made fleetingly about prejudice against Muslim women who cover their heads, a public figure says a person can be gauged by their attire while another cites outward appearance as his barometer, and a Machiavellian politician declares that he is willing to ban notes and even votes to retain power. All these are fitted into a script that ends up being primarily about caste oppression.

No doubt in the present Indian political scenario it could be argued that each of these elements is an act of courage and, therefore, laudable. Fair enough. But courage alone is not cinema, especially when these disparate components are not woven together into a cohesive whole.

Most characters in the film barring one - a policeman played by Suraj Venjaramoodu - are sketchily drawn and even his graph is unconvincing, the director relies too heavily on Prithviraj’s larger-than-life persona to sustain Jana Gana Mana post-interval, the script feels too crowded, and the narrative jumps from one point to the next to the next instead of flowing smoothly.

The bad writing extends to poorly constructed scenes and awkward dialogues, made worse by strained acting from several actors, in addition to unrelenting music.

The overall effect of the film is its high volume, not just in a literal sense but also in terms of its tendency to underline every point raised, through the use of its soundtrack and studied camerawork. An overly long epilogue announces a sequel to Jana Gana Mana , adding to the film’s already exhausting length.

The tacky direction and writing are combined with confused politics. Jana Gana Mana ’s title is drawn from India’s national anthem and alludes to the minds and will of the people, yet the film dithers in its position on mob justice. A college lecturer speaking to his class about their duty to fight the good fight appears to trivialise the Kiss of Love campaign started in Kerala to oppose self-appointed moral police. The incident that looms over the entire proceedings in Jana Gana Mana is a woman’s rape yet at the forefront of the script are two men - ACP Sajjan Kumar (Suraj) and advocate Aravind Swaminathan (Prithviraj). The woman herself, Sabha, is written as a rough outline of a kind soul committed to social welfare, and nothing beyond that. Caste bias, discrimination and atrocities are Jana Gana Mana ’s main concerns, yet the reins of the battle are not handed to the marginalised community in question.

The saviour complex should not come as a surprise for anyone who has seen the director’s film Queen with its deeply problematic treatment of rape; nor should the tackiness. In fact, in both respects, Jana Gana Mana is a vast improvement on Queen.

Prithviraj and Suraj teamed up not too long back in Lal Jr’s smartly written and crisply directed Driving Licence (2019). That film was an excellent addition to the Malayalam New New Wave from which has emerged some of the best Indian cinema of the past decade. Jana Gana Mana is undistinctive, notwithstanding its brave throwaway lines and moments that made my liberal heart sit up and take notice.

Despite the film’s limitations, Suraj manages to turn out a warm performance that rises above the failings of the script. Prithviraj’s charisma makes it hard to ever dislike him on screen, but it is just as hard not to wonder why a star who has directors and writers lining up at his door chose to back this film that lacks cohesion, clarity, depth, finesse and calm.

This review was first published in April 2022 when Jana Gana Mana was released in theatres. The film is now streaming on Netflix.  

Rating: 2 (out of 5 stars)   

Anna MM Vetticad is an award-winning journalist and author of The Adventures of an Intrepid Film Critic. She specialises in the intersection of cinema with feminist and other socio-political concerns. Twitter: @annavetticad, Instagram: @annammvetticad, Facebook: AnnaMMVetticadOfficial  

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