PremiumJai Ganesh - Unni Mukundan and Ranjith Sankar's mystery thriller is a flawed yet engaging watch; Here’s why
Jai Ganesh, the Unni Mukundan starrer helmed by Ranjith Sankar, hit the big screens on April 11, 2024. The mystery thriller is a highly engaging film, which still has a few flaws.
Last Updated: 08.56 PM, Apr 12, 2024
Jai Ganesh, the mystery thriller that features Unni Mukundan in the lead role, has finally hit the big screens. The movie, which is helmed by Ranjith Sankar, has been receiving positive reviews from the audiences. For the uninitiated, Jai Ganesh revolves around a talented artist, who is paralyzed below the waist after an accident. Unni Mukundan delivered the finest performance of his career so far in Jai Ganesh, which is now struggling to make a mark amidst the other Vishu releases.
However, this Ranjith Sankar directorial is indeed a highly engaging film, which has its own flaws. Let’s now have a look at the elements that really worked in Jai Ganesh, and the factors that failed to make an impact.
*Spoilers Ahead*
Jai Ganesh – What the Unni Mukundan starrer an engaging watch?
The best thing about Jai Ganesh is its duration. The Unni Mukundan starrer has a duration of just 2 hours and 5 minutes, which makes it a crisp and engaging watch. Director Ranjith Sankar and his team avoided the cliched flashbacks and a parallel love track, which made the film a fascinating watch, especially in the first half. Even though there was a high scope for melodrama, the filmmaker refrained from taking that route, and conveyed the protagonist’s past subtly and it worked.
Also Read: Jai Ganesh Review - Unni Mukundan impresses in Ranjith Sankar’s engrossing mystery thriller
Even though there is a budding romance between Ganesh and Nidhi, the characters played by Unni Mukundan and Mahima Nambiar, the mystery thriller never really explores the same. And it has clearly benefitted the storytelling of the film, which deals with another complex subject. The inner turmoil of Ganesh is portrayed in a couple of scenes, and leading man Unni’s effective performance makes it enough for the audience to connect with the protagonist. The first half of the film was indeed an edge-of-the-seat watch.
The warm friendship between Ganesh and little boy Ayaan makes an impact, thanks to the duo’s camaraderie. Even though leading lady Mahima Nambiar has nothing much to do in the film, her character serves as Ganesh’s emotional anchor, and it lands well. The scenes involving Unni Mukundan, and his father (played by senior actor Ashokan) also felt quite organic. When it comes to the investigation part of the film, starts on a high note until the narrative throws in a twist, as the journey of Ravindra Vijay’s character ends.
Jai Ganesh – What doesn’t work in the film?
The biggest flaw of Jai Ganesh is its over-indulgent second half, which solely focuses on the protagonist’s struggles to find Ayaan. Ganesh’s journey and his efforts get extremely repetitive to the point where the audience struggles to even figure out what is going on. A bit more clarity in the writing and making of the final act would have done wonders for the film. Similarly, the climax portion, where the protagonist makes the big brave move of his life, doesn’t end up well due to the same reasons.
Jomol plays the role of an Advocate who brings a major turning point in Ganesh’s life in the film. However, after her introduction, the character gets sidelined quite instantly, to only reappearing at times to have brief conversations with the protagonist. Sreekanth Vijayan’s character Prakash Puthran, who is introduced with a lot of potential, also suffers a similar fate. Leela Samson appears for a few minutes, only to include Ranjith Sankar’s signature ‘motivation’ factor into the narrative. Jai Ganesh would have had a more interesting end, the director only focused on the investigation part of the narrative.