From Sarpatta Parambarai, Drishyam 2, and Soorarai Pottru to Minnal Murali, Malik, Narappa, and Mookuthi Amman, several South Indian movies skipped their theatrical releases during the Covid-19 era early this decade and premiered straight on OTT platforms. Yet, it is doubtful whether any other film generated as much anticipation as director Karthik Subbaraj’s Dhanush-led Jagame Thandhiram (2021).And, yes, the reasons were aplenty. Firstly, it was the biggest Tamil star vehicle to arrive before the audience since Vijay’s Master hit the screens in January 2021. Although Dhanush had a release in April, director Mari Selvaraj’s Karnan, it was anything but a star vehicle. Regardless, Karnan had a solid box-office run, and Dhanush’s performance impressed all. Hence, not just the actor’s fans but movie audiences, in general, were excited beyond anything for Jagame Thandhiram, which premiered on Netflix on June 18.Don’t Miss | Kammatipaadam might be the unsung brutal history of every big city that ever existedBesides, the actioner was Karthik Subbaraj’s first full-length feature film since his critically and commercially successful Petta (2019), headlined by Rajinikanth. Hence, the masses had immense expectations from the director. After all, right after gifting Rajinikanth the blockbuster Petta, it was with the superstar’s son-in-law — Dhanush, who was married to Aishwarya Rajinikanth at the time — that Karthik had joined forces, and many were hopeful that this too would work big time. However, that was not how things ultimately played out.The paradigm shift in Karthik Subbaraj’s filmmakingStarting with his directorial debut Pizza (2012), Karthik Subbaraj’s movies have been more than mere entertainers. He often in/directly discussed relevant topics — including the issues plaguing people and the different shades they take — through his films. Nonetheless, his post-Petta oeuvre shows a paradigm shift in the kinds of films he makes.Since then, he has been much more vocal about the themes he wishes to address through his works. Even though he maintains restraint and subtlety when needed, Karthik doesn’t relegate the politics of his movies to undertones; rather, he makes his works wear their politics on their sleeves, proudly flaunting them and not caring about being labelled a “political filmmaker,” a term that is unfortunately considered pejorative by many, including creators.Although this may sound insensitive, considering the amount of work and money that went into making the actioner, I honestly feel that Jagame Thandhiram was essentially a “trial ball” that eventually made Karthik realise his strengths and weaknesses. Even though he may not have approached the actioner with that mindset and would have put his heart and soul into it during its writing and production, the Dhanush-starrer must have served mainly to teach him valuable lessons going forward, as quite a few things went wrong in it.Story continues below this adIn my opinion, it is only because Jagame Thandhiram failed as a movie that Karthik Subbaraj could create something as impressive as Jigarthanda DoubleX (2023), which may have resulted from him learning from his mistakes. Had Jagame Thandhiram not received the criticism it did, the sequel to Jigarthanda (2014) would likely have turned out differently than what we saw.Vile, viler, vilest: Why Jagame Thandhiram’s central trio failed to connectIn all honesty, Jagame Thandhiram could be described as a festival that was organised underwhelmingly. Although its richness — from budget to talents to opportunities — was evident throughout, the actioner couldn’t utilise its resources effectively, rendering it a very middling affair. Here, both Karthik’s writing and direction are equally to blame.ICYMI | From onscreen messiah to Tamil Nadu CM: The cinematic blueprint behind Vijay’s political ascentInstead of the tried-and-tested “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” central trio, Jagame Thandhiram presented us with the “vile, viler, and vilest.” Three men — the bad, worse, and worst. Although the essence of this portrayal and the characters were intriguing, the actioner’s biggest failure was that its opening sequence, introducing Sivadoss (a brilliant Joju George), Peter Sprott (James Cosmo), and Suruli (Dhanush, in one of his few unimpressive performances) one after the other, failed to create the intended impact.Story continues below this adThe trap of forced RajinismsWhile the popular adage “first impression is the best impression” needn’t be right all the time, and an adamant adherence to this could pave the way for misjudgment, there’s no doubt that opening scenes/sequences contribute more than one might assume. Since it serves as the entry point into the movie’s world, an impressive opening draws the audience in quickly.While Sivadoss’ intro scene was underwhelming, Peter’s ended up being comical rather than menacing, where the villainous humour he was given backfired big time. The major issue with Suruli’s introductory scene, meanwhile, was the overt Rajinikanth shade added to the character, including in his getup and mannerisms. From Suruli’s laughter and the way he talked, to his gestures and the way he walked, Dhanush infused Rajinism into the character amply, but it didn’t yield the expected results. Jagame Thandhiram could be described as a festival that was organised underwhelmingly. (Credit: IMDb)While Dhanush himself had admitted during the movie’s promotions that Suruli would have some shades of Rajinikanth, it came across as rather artificial than organic. The actor told The Hindu, “I am a huge fan of Rajini sir, and so is director Karthik. Earlier, in my films, I have made a conscious attempt to stay away from any Rajinisms that might creep into my performances. But for Jagame Thandhiram, Karthik said, ‘Let Rajini be there.'”Much like Peter’s case, Suruli’s jokes also never landed, thus rendering all three central characters unimpressive from the start. Although Santhosh Narayanan’s background score and the song “Rakita Rakita Rakita” helped uplift the spirit of Jagame Thandhiram a bit, the writing steadily deteriorated, with the dialogues proving to be the biggest spoilsport.Story continues below this adPeter Sprott vs Rathna Kumar: A caricature of a villainAnother major issue with Jagame Thandhiram was the lack of subtlety. To emphasise that Peter’s a xenophobe, he was constantly made to utter racist dialogues that sound as if they were created using all the stereotypes that could be found online about white supremacist men. Only rarely did the movie shed ample light on the sinister side of Peter, and that wasn’t enough to position him as a ruthless, demonic villain like Jigarthanda DoubleX’s DSP Rathna Kumar (Naveen Chandra).In Jigarthanda DoubleX, Karthik clearly established Rathna’s evil early on, making him the perfect rival for the unstoppable Alliyus Caesar (Raghava Lawrence). However, in Jagame Thandhiram, Peter was nothing more than a big joke, let alone a worthy villain against Sivadoss, the messiah of the oppressed, or the soulless Suruli.Also Read | Beyond Drishyam: Mohanlal delivered a whole year of Lalism with 5 performances, a Best Actor awardEven the story and the plights of the immigrants, particularly the Sri Lankan Tamils — forced to flee their homeland and seek shelter in foreign countries like Britain — were conveyed more through spoken words. And since the dialogues themselves were mostly underwhelming, they failed to create the impact they should have. Considering the movie discussed such a significant and poignant topic, it deserved to be treated and explored more thoughtfully, but Karthik simply couldn’t.Story continues below this adThe saviour complex vs heroes from marginalised communitiesA major reason behind this was the overt focus on Suruli. A recurring issue in Karthik Subbaraj’s “political” movies is his penchant for placing a saviour, obviously from the unoppressed community, at the centre of the narrative and worshipping this character rather than ensuring a hero arises from among the marginalised.Even though Jigarthanda DoubleX’s Caesar was one such hero, we all saw the fate he eventually received. The looming saviour complex in his works is one of the major reasons Karthik’s “political” movies often come across as insincere and performative, and Jagame Thandhiram is a perfect example. Instead of Suruli, Karthik should have fleshed out Sivadoss further, as there was much more to him that deserved proper exploration.Must Read | Kamal Haasan’s 15-year dream turned into a Rs 300 cr disaster despite a GOAT at the helmWhile he employed a couple of lengthy single shots in the movie to build tension, their staging was often unimpressive, and sometimes they came across as highly choreographed. Be it the scene where Suruli is held captive in Sivadoss’ basement or the one where Sivadoss is murdered by Peter with Suruli’s help, Karthik failed to achieve the necessary naturalness in these moments.Story continues below this adVisual aesthetics: Polished colour grading diluted natural tensionJagame Thandhiram’s visual language was impressive at certain junctures, with the most notable being the way the director used the saavu kuthu (funeral dance) to highlight different emotions. When Sivadoss and his gang performed saavu kuthu, it expressed their sorrow after the death of his right-hand man Rajan; but when Peter and Suruli did something similar in the middle of London after Sivadoss’ death, it took on an entirely different meaning.However, barring a few such moments, Jagame Thandhiram’s visuals appeared too artificial and polished, mainly because of its stilted colour grading, lacking the imperfections that make something feel natural and original.Cinema Anatomy | Unrivalled GOAT of comedy: Why it’s almost impossible to match Urvashi’s comic brillianceAt the same time, along with many preachy dialogues that sounded as if they had been lifted from public speeches or moral science textbooks, the script had massive holes that failed to explain key plot points, such as how Attilla (Aishwarya Lekshmi) actually fell in love with Suruli and how Suruli, a soulless creature, suddenly became the torchbearer for human rights after hearing Attilla’s story.Story continues below this adUnlike Jigarthanda DoubleX, where the slow-motion shots actually elevated the moments, similar shots in Jagame Thandhiram seemed included only because a star was at the centre, as the moments themselves carried little mass. Although Shreyaas Krishna’s cinematography was sharp at many points, most shots set in London looked like they were created for TripAdvisor, where everything seemed as perfect as possible, detracting from the organic feel.Cinema cannot exist in a vacuum; it’s all about the discussions that follow. In the Cinema Anatomy column, we delve into the diverse layers and dimensions of films, aiming to uncover deeper meanings and foster continuous discourses.