The pain of the voiceless; Jai Bhim touches heart; Review


"The law is a weapon for me to fight.  If justice is not done in the court, we will take to the streets and fight, ”said T.S.  J.  Jai Bhim, directed by Gnanavel, tells the story of a struggle.  The struggle of a section to be recognized as human in the country of birth.

When Surya Vakil arrives as Chandru, the center of the film is its theme.  After Vetrimaran's national award winning film 'Visarana' and Mari Selvaraj's 'Karnan', Jaybeem has been the main subject of caste discrimination but deserves applause in the way he tells the story.  The film 'Jai Bhim' questions the political and police injustices against a tribal tribe in a courtroom.  After Dalit politics and Dravidian politics, Jaibhim is pushing for a strong left politics.  Surya has done a great job as Chandru, a lawyer who fights in human rights cases without paying fees.

The story takes place in 1995.  The film begins with a group of people coming out of a jail in the hinterland of Tamil Nadu.  There are two groups of people waiting for them.  One was their family and the other was a group of two policemen who had reached the mafthi.  A prison official intercepts people leaving the jail and asks about their caste.  Inferior people give birth to inferior offspring and, thus, propagate their inferiority.  What happens next is a bargain between the prison officer and the policemen who came out.


One group said there were a lot of cases pending at the station and that at least six had to be overcome.  Another group said it was a promotion to the inspector and that they needed ten people to close the cases.  The uniformed officer bought a number of notes and handed them over to the police.  The lower castes and the poor are orphans to them.  The film begins with their journey from one prison to another as soon as they are released.  From there begins the journey into the realm of reality and the anarchy that continues today.

The film follows the life of Sengeni (Lijomol) and Rajakannu (Manikandan), a hunter couple from the Irular tribe.  The chemistry between the two central characters is magnificent.  Rajakannan and his relatives have been taken into custody by the local police on a charge of theft.  The horrible face of the lockup tortures witnessed in the trial and in Karnan also engraves the audience in Jaybhim.

With the disappearance of Rajakannan and two others from police custody, the film becomes a thriller.  The film turns into a full-fledged courtroom drama as Sengeni seeks the help of her lawyer Chandru to find the missing Rajakannan in police custody.  Where are the 3 missing persons in custody?  The film then goes on to describe how Chandru reveals police brutality in the courtroom and Chandru's journey to get justice for Sengeni.

The Rajan case in Kerala is an example of the habeas corpus case where the High Court should consider the missing Rajakannan case.  Another highlight of the film is that it depicts the courtroom in the most realistic way.  Surya played the role of a very mature lawyer as usual.  Rajisha Vijayan and Prakash Raj also performed well.


Manikandan's character was shocked by his heart-pounding performance.  He brought out the helplessness of his character well.  Lijomol is one of the best casting choices in Tamil cinema in recent times.  Lijomol best portrayed the character who can be said to be the soul of the film.  Sengeny's character is likely to get the most compliments in the future.  Sean Roldan composes the best songs and gives the film its flow.  Excellent photography and editing lead to a 2.45 hour long log experience.

But Jaibeem is not a movie that stands out in every way.  The writing flaw is that the supporting characters are not used properly and the opposing lawyers are portrayed as silent characters in the courtroom.  The weaker opposition will make the hero’s journey to the truth seem much easier.  The film failed to guess what the climax was and to make an impact beyond the social message.  However, director Gnanaveli was able to hide all these negatives through a good presentation and bring the film to the level of what can be described as a master class.

‘Jai Bhim’ definitely becomes a must-see movie when you know that this story actually happened.  Jaybhim is applauding the pain of the oppressed and the voiceless in a very powerful and realistic way.  In a nutshell, Jaybeem is a heart touching film released on Amazon Prime, which gives Tamil cinema a sense of pride and self - examination of the local political system.

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