Review – Jackpot

Movie: Jackpot
Director: Kalyan
Cast:Jyotika, Revathy, Samuthirakani, Yogi Babu, Motta Rajendran, Anand Raj, Mansoor Ali Khan, Sachu, and others
Music: Vishal Chandrashekar
Cinematography:R S Anandakumar
Rating: 3 stars

Director Kalyan’s Jackpot is a full-fledged comedy entertainer that one can enjoy with the entire family.

The story, which begins in 1919, is simple but interesting.

A milkman, who is looking to make ends meet, decides to dig a well in his small piece of land.

As he begins to dig, his pick axe strikes metal. The milk vendor is thrilled and begins to dig at a frenzied pace in the hope of finding treasure. Instead, all he recovers is a brass bowl. Needless to say, he is disappointed.

It doesn’t take long for the vendor to find out that the vessel that he has found is more significant than even gold or diamonds for it is in reality an Akshaya Patra, a vessel which multiplies anything which is put into it unless and until it is left completely inverted.

In no time, the milkman turns rich. His modest home turns into a big bungalow and he becomes a big shot in society. One day, when he is out participating in a public event, burglars raid his home. The Akshaya Patra is stolen.

The story then moves to the present day and age where Akshaya (Jyothika ) and Maasha (Revathy) lead their lives by conning people. Apparently, Maasha has brought up Akshaya and the two street smart women share a strong bond.

Akshaya might cheat but she also has an altruistic nature. Just like the Akshaya Patra which keeps giving non stop, Akshaya too is a person who looks to help people wherever possible.

At one point, a strange set of circumstances results in Akshaya learning about the Akshaya Patra and its strange powers. She also finds out that the vessel lies in the cowshed of a politician named Maanasthan(Anand Raj) who has no idea about the power of the utensil. More importantly, his henchmen have IQ levels that are much lesser than that of a 6 year old.

Maasha and Akshaya realise that they will be able to help scores of people handle their miseries if they can own the Akshaya Patra. So, they decide to steal the Akshaya Patra that is lying unattended to in Maanasthan’s cowshed. They choose to take the help of Mottai(Mottai Rajendran), a mechanic who trades in stolen cars and someone who is madly in love with Maasha, for the job.

Do Maassha and Akshaya manage to get their hands on the Akshaya Patra? Jackpot gives you the answer.

The film is all about “women power” and is an example of how good women are at comedy.

The film has a big star cast and almost all of them are comedians. But the two people who make you laugh the most are Anand Raj as Maanasthan and Mottai Rajendran as Mottai. There is one particular sequence in which Mottai is assigned the task of drawing Maanasthan and his men away from the cowshed, which Revathy and Jyothika intend to search.

Mottai too does this by saying that he has nude pictures of the politician with him and to reclaim them, Maanasthan must pay a ransom amount of Rs 2000. The politician feels insulted that his pictures are worth only Rs 2000 and offers to pay 20,000 and reclaim them. He is asked to come to a desolate place far away from the city. Mottai leaves clues with a chalk piece for Maanasthan to arrive at the exact place where the exchange is to happen. But his language and his spelling are so wretched that the whole exercise leaves you laughing your guts out.

Anand Raj in particular is brilliant. He has no problems making audiences laugh at will. Almost every time he appears on screen, you end up laughing.

The film has some really good music from Vishal Chandrashekar. Two of the songs are really peppy and have high retention value. R S Anandakumar does a neat job behind the camera.

Like every other film of 2D entertainment, this film too is a clean family entertainer, which is to say it can be enjoyed with the entire family.