PremiumJaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey review: Darshana Rajendran, Basil Joseph kick it out of the park in this hilarious comedy
The second act of the film is a bit over the top. But it's not necessarily a bad thing at all. In fact, this is where the movie becomes outrageously funny.
Last Updated: 08.57 PM, Dec 23, 2022
Jayabharathi, whose parents and relatives decided her entire life for her, has just one demand before agreeing to get married - to be able to study and work. Rajesh agrees to this. But life remains unchanged with Rajesh's patriarchal mindset and behaviour once again pushing Jayabharathi to a corner till she finally decides to come out of it, 'kicking' and screaming. How will this change Rajesh and define their relationship?
Director Vipin Das referred to his latest movie Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey, starring Darshana Rajendran and Basil Joseph, as a biopic of a million Indian women. This is because the protagonist in the movie, Jayabharathi (Darshana), has her future decided by the men in her life, so much that she is hardly ever given space or time to express her opinion. And even when she does, they manipulate it to suit their interest, by justifying it as a means to protect her.
The film revolves around Jayabharathi, who from her childhood has been influenced in some way or the other by the patriarchal mindset. In fact, she is the only one who sees this clearly, but every attempt to resist fails because the male conditioning overpowers reasoning. Even when she is married, the hope of a change extinguishes fast with her husband Rajesh (Basil) being a chauvinist, who resorts to violence the moment she takes a stand. When her cries for help fall on the deaf ears of her family and women themselves ask her to put up with the domestic violence to 'adjust', she finally decides to come out kicking.
The first half of the film, which is also scripted by Vipin, beautifully portrays the imbalance in the lives of boys and girls growing up. Vipin ensures that it doesn't come off as preachy and in fact, through its multiple characters - such as the obnoxious uncle who'd rather see a girl married off than her outgrowing the family - the story makes us empathise with Jayabharathi's plight. However, the second act of the film is a bit over the top. But it's not necessarily a bad thing at all. In fact, this is where the movie becomes outrageously funny with the husband and wife engaging in a showdown straight from a Van Damme movie.
Darshana is brilliant as Jayabharathi, flexible both on expressions as well as her body language. It's also a clever ploy from the makers to give her few dialogues during her marriage, to signify that she never got to get in a word in the relationship that was dominated by Rajesh. This makes the final act all the more enjoyable.
Also read: Exclusive! Vipin Das: If it wasn’t for Darshana Rajendran, Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey would not have been like this
Basil as the chauvinistic Rajesh is a delight. Vipin has written him with humour but the toxicity in his personality peeks through every now and then. The supporting characters in the film including Azees Nedumangad, Sudheer Paravoor and the artiste who played Rajesh's mother were exceptional, adding liberal doses of humour to the film. The pace of Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey, however, does slacken in when it goes overboard with action and slapstick humour.
That said the movie does hold a mirror to the men and women in the society to look and correct their patriarchal conditioning and that itself is a huge victory for a movie that deals with a relevant issue and is packaged as an entertainer.
Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey is currently streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
If you are looking for a movie that will make you laugh out loud and think, then Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey, which is led by brilliant performances of Darshana and Basil, is a perfect choice.