Janaadhipan HD DVD Released

Janadhipan is an unapologetic paean to the current LDF government, especially the Chief Minister. A principled and idealist, unsmiling politician loved dearly in his native land, Kannur Vishwan is portrayed by Hareesh Peradi. One is immediately reminded of Kaitheri Sahadevan from Left Right Left, a textbook political film directed by Arun Kumar Aravind and enjoyed by the millinials. However, the similarities cease there.

Kannur Vishwan is a man of principles; a true-blue communist. Following the electoral victory, when the Party assigns him to be the Chief Minister, he isn't aware of the perils ahead of him. Amidst a murder attempt and a political murder, Vishwan will find his principles tested time and again.

Right from the moment the credit titles start to roll, Janadhipan makes no apologies for its political slant. Written and directed by debutant Thanseer M.A, Janadhipan is an unhinged glorification and PR exercise of the reigning state government and its leader. Janadhipan actively makes references to the present day political players. Who the staunch and idealist Chief Minister who bears the weight of the world and hence doesn't smile, who the Communist political patriarch is who "abdicates" the Chief Ministership for "the greater good" is, and who the corrupt political kingpin from Kottayam, dexterously named Monichen is, are anybody's guesses. Just keep your eyes peeled and your politically aware part of the brain open.

Janadhipan has Hareesh Peradi in his finest element. The film has its intermittent moments of suspense and thrill. The film packs in some good music, thanks to Mejo Joseph.

But, the lyrics, not so much. Often the film goes into an overdrive trying to accentuate the administrative achievements of the present government. One finds that the writer-director has worked really hard with the reel Chief Minister to justify each and every point the real Chief Minister has been criticised for. (Case in point, the incident where the CM harshly shows the media their way out.) And in this tireless pursuit, the story is lost on the audience. But that doesn't mean that the story doesn't take tall and mighty twists and turns were foreign intelligence and terror plots are all involved. Also, the film being tad too overdramatic doesn't help the narration one bit.

Janadhipan is a political statement, with its own blend of truth and fiction. It gets a dressing up as a thriller. There is thrill and suspense, but too much of drama and a little bit of real-life political references to spice things up. Watch it, but not without a word of caution.