JAGANMOHINI - MOVIE REVIEW

Remaking cult classics isn’t really a bad idea, but what made the original Jaganmohini tick was its imaginative plot premise and the visual effects, done with very modest technical advancements available during the seventies. Jaganmohini is the remake of veteran Vittalacharya’s horror-comedy of the same name. The latest version that has Namitha in the quintessential-ghost-with-an-unrequited-love role, however, lacks the required finesse to hold your attention and with a choppy screenplay the movie ends up more comic than horror. That’s not to mention, we also have Vadivelu in the cast with less than desired results. The story, as we all know, feels like it’s taken straight out of the Amar Chitra Katha series. Namitha gets murdered for having fallen in love with a prince. Despite her death, she seeks the love of her life, the prince, Raja. However, the prince also has a suitable bride, Nila, within the family. To win Raja over, Namitha also must fight an evil sorcerer, Kota Srinivasa Rao, who sets out to capture the prince for his human-sacrifice that will bestow colossal powers upon him. That is Jaganmohini’s plot in a nutshell. There’s also the wicked prince from the neighboring state Riyaz Khan, his father Bala Singh and Vadivelu, who plays Namitha’s brother.

If not anything, the plot has immense scope to amuse kids, but falls short with only a few visual effect scenes promising to hold attention – like the one in which Namitha attacks the village after taking a water form. Namitha’s fans might enjoy her in a full-fledged role where she gets to rule the screen for the major part of the movie. With her enormous frame, she does a neat job of a ghost – no pun intended, of course. The climax would have suited the seventies, but since we have evolved so much over the past 30 something years, it looks and feels so preposterous. It’s even doubtful that your kid might like that kind of lame climax. The N. K. Vishwanathan directed Jaganmohini is neither spooky nor amusing. Even if you are a die-hard Namitha fan, don’t be surprised if you become incensed towards the end of the movie, for she’s all over it.