Janatha Garage

Here is the go word. The movie opens with the plot right away and we are sure that director is not trying to give focus on the regular commercial stuff. This movie starts down right serious. after some time, we feel it is extending and we need some rest now. There comes the classy touch away from the plot, giving NTR a character that tries to convey messages, for saving the environment and at the same time, giving sample for how nature gets angry, by bashing goons left right and all corners demonstrating earthquake and tsunami. we feel that this is novel way of adding humor to the character. Things become repetitive and at times going haywire and after some time, we feel that let us get to the plot now. Then again glimpse of the plot comes, and we end up for a bang on interval, that promises a lot for the next half to come.

Once the second half, starts, we are surely enthralled for the start, and we get the proceedings hitting the roof after the GHMC episode followed by the title track. There you go, this is what we were waiting for since 90 minutes. After the song, a little bit of family drama infused to add more classy touch for the narrative. then we feel that it is going right and looks for a solid stupendous finish. But,, what happened? There comes the problem. the movie does not know how to go and where to end, and how to end. Trouble starts, commercialism added, unnecessary dragged down to the hell dramatic scenes and a regular kind of climax that never seemed new, all feels for it, but alas! a poor finish for a great potential plot in the hand. Not me, everyone would be of this feel, when they come out from the screening. Somewhere, it did not hit right. Blame the screenwriter, director, editing or the narrative which spoils the whole plot.

Technically the movie was visually stunning, every frame. Cinematography by Thiru was top notch, every frame was rich, glowing with lights. Even in darker scenes, lighting was ambient and had a sense of brilliance poured over. Music and BGM by DSP was rocking. nothing to complain. Art department was seen with their efforts, on screen. Brilliant. The less I talk about editing, the better. In one word, Poor. Other technical elements were good.

So finally the movie was drawn out badly from being a decent one, due to the lengthy run time, blame the editor, and the preachy narration towards the end and a regular Indian climax, we have seen many times. This all boils down the over all effect of the good, instances we glimpsed. So a movie that never tries to rise, despite all such powerhouse performances, terrific music, excellent visuals. In the end, Janatha Garage is a film that comes with promise, and ends with the same feel we had it might turn out to be. Just okay. Not good, not bad. So who gets the blame? Since,it has a strong cast, openings are going to create records, for sure, but in the end, this movie will still have just a weekend run. This what worries me.

Janatha Garage (2016): Since Temper,NTR has changed his way of story selection and choosing only those scripts which has good emotional depth.In Temper he gave terrific performance as a corrupt police officer and in Nanaku Prematho he gave his most subtle performance ever.Now with Janatha Garage he teamed up with national winning actor Mohanlal. Koratala Shiva,who is famous for his message oriented commercial films(Mirchi,Srimanthudu) directed this prestigious project.How is it??

Plot: Satyam (Mohanlal) establishes an auto garage in Hyderabad in early 1980's. Soon he becomes a leader to their locality. All people in the neighborhood approach him for help and he also "repairs" (bashes up) men who do wrong to the people.In the present day, Anand (NTR), an environmental researcher, studying and living in Mumbai frequently lands in problems for his cases against powerful people who pollute the nature. He also knows how to teach them a lesson by bashing them.On a study exchange program, Anand comes down to Hyderabad and he closes down the illegal quarry of Satyam's son Raghava (Unni). Impressed with Anand's aggressive and righteous nature, Satyam asks him to take over his garage. Why? What is his motive?

Plus Points:

1)Performances: Major plus point of Janatha Garage is the mind blowing performances of NTR and Mohanlal.Their screen presence simply mesmerizes us with such brilliant acting.NTR showed brilliant maturity in this movie especially the scene in GHMC. Mohanlal really leaves a mark in TFI with his performance and surely wins hearts of Telugu people.Devayani as Mohanlal's wife gave good performance.

2)Few scenes in both halves: Janatha Garage is not perfect as it has some clichéd scenes but few scenes are brilliant.Especially the Interval and GHMC scene in second half are remarkable.

3)Dialogues: Dialogues are very good which has good depth in it.NTR style of delivery to those dialogues helped a lot to get connected to them.

Minus Points:

1)Cliched scenes: Janatha Garage has lot of routine scenes.Movie has highly predictable screenplay most of the time.Villains are so poor and there is no emotional quotient is the scenes.

2)Editing: Editing is so poor that it gives a feel that there is sudden jump between scenes.

3)Music: DSP gave average music for this movie.Songs are not good enough but lyrics are brilliant.BGM gives us deja vu feel.

So Janatha Garage has brilliant performances from NTR and Mohanlal,few brilliant emotional scenes but needs few more repairs to make it perfect.

My rating 6.75/10

Janatha Garage is a movie which boldly lacks key entertainment elements that are comedy and good dialogues.However, the movie still pleases somewhat with a realistic emotion. The movie cannot even be tolerated for the second time but if you watch the movie not expecting comedy and good dialogues, you are likely to appreciate the direction of Koratala Siva and acting prowess of Mohanlal and NTR.

The movie bears the story of helping the society which seems to be a common theme in the movies of Koratala Shiva. The story seems very familiar and cliché but few elements in the storyline seem new and realistic only due to the realistic direction and acting.

Negatives:

No attention on details ( for example on showing Bomb blasts, Rajeev Kanakala's reason for denial), ridiculously boring dialogues, lack of sense of humor for any character.

Positives:

Humility NTR has depicted in contrast to his previous movies, complete acting team,direction.

Jr. NTR delivered a commanding and restrained performance, deviating from his typical action-hero image. He portrays a nature-loving environmental activist with depth and emotional gravitas. His screen presence, particularly in intense and emotional scenes, received widespread praise. He balanced the action sequences with more subtle emotional moments, showing versatility. Mohanlal, the Malayalam cinema legend, brought an air of dignity and power to his role as the head of the Janatha Garage. His understated performance elevated the film, and his natural acting style added authenticity to his character. His combination of quiet authority and fatherly warmth made him a standout. The chemistry between Mohanlal and Jr. NTR was a highlight. Nithya Menen, though in a limited role, delivered a solid performance. Her portrayal of a strong, independent woman added depth to the film. Despite not having a very lengthy screen presence, she brought freshness and grace to the narrative. Samantha's role was primarily as the romantic interest, and while she did her best with the part, it didn't allow her to showcase her full acting range. Nevertheless, she shared good on-screen chemistry with Jr. NTR and delivered in the emotional scenes. Jr. NTR's matured portrayal and Mohanlal's towering presence were the film's backbone. Nithya Menen and Samantha did well with their respective roles, though the narrative leaned heavily on the male characters. While the supporting cast played their parts convincingly, it was the lead actors that truly shone.

I loved this movie thoroughly. Fantastic story. Excellent acting.