‘Jackson Durai’ directed by one film old Dharaneedharan (director of ‘Burma’) is yet another addition to the long list of Horror-comedy films released in recent times, but the inclusion of veteran Sathyaraj as a ghost for the first time in his career and also the interesting teasers and other promotional materials raised a positive buzz that we can expect something new and interesting.
But sadly, ‘Jackson Durai’ has very little to offer on horror or on humor and ends up as a patience testing experience and an interesting premise that involves the pre-Independence period has not been well utilized.
Sathya (Sibiraj) a Sub Inspector of Police is posted in a village called Ayan Puram where people complain of the atrocities of the ghost Jackson living in a haunted bungalow. Viji (Bindhu Madhavi) is the daughter of the local President (Shanmuga Sundaram). Sathya falls for her but he has to compete with her ‘Muraippayyan’ Veera (Karunakaran) to win over his lady love.
The President says whoever lives in the haunted bungalow for seven days and comes out alive can marry his daughter. The duo accept the challenge and get some eerie experience. They learn that the ghosts are the family and accomplices of a British ruler Jackson and a group of rebels lead by Durai (Sathyaraj) who sacrificed their lives to kill Jackson.
The rest is how Sathya and Veera pacifies the ‘good’ ghosts (rebels) by helping them to avenge the ‘bad’ ones (Jackson and his accomplices).
As said earlier ‘Jackson Durai’ has failed to live up to the expectations on horror as well as humor parts. Most of the horror scenes follow the oft repeated ideas and patterns and there is hardly any scene that really scares the audience who are very much used to these kind of horror scenes.
In the initial scenes make us expect a thriller as heroine raises suspicion about the actual existence of ghost. If this mystery is extended for a larger part, the film would have been really interesting but that expectation falls short very soon as the real existence of ghosts is established in the pre-interval sequence.
The humor part can not be called a complete let down as a few situations and dialogues here and there and the proceedings of the last half an hour manage to raise a few guffaws.
Even the short flash back portions dealing with the rebellion against the British rule fails to create the intended impact. A section of audience may find the later portions with scenes involving these characters as ghosts as entertaining.
Sibiraj gives an impeccable performance and his earnestness is clearly evident that makes one feel bad for the weak script letting him down. Bindhu Madhavi’s role has been reduced to that of an extended cameo. Karunakaran gives an impressive performance and his antics and dialogues give the much needed humor relief. Sathyaraj is majestic as the rebel leader but there is nothing new in his characterization and antics as a ghost. Naan Kadavul Rajendran this time comes as a ghost but disappoints with same kind of dialogues and antics and it will be better if our filmmakers start using him for some different purposes. Yogi Babu has again become a necessary inclusion in comedy oriented films but fails to evoke laughter this time.
There is only one song that finds its place in the film and that one composed by Siddharth Vipin fails to stay in mind. Chinna’s background score is good in certain scenes but loud in others. Cinematography by Yuvraj is apt and tries its best to increase the eeriness in night scenes. Vivek Harshan has done a neat job in the Editor’s table.
Verdict: ‘Jackson Durai’ fails to live up to the expectations over its horror tag. A few laugh raising moments are way shot to satisfy the lovers of comedy films as well.
