Jaggubhai

<p>Jagannathan, fondly known as Jaggubhai, is an upright, straightforward, and tough Indian police officer with sharp methods. His way of dealing with the criminals strikes terror in the underground world. Jaggubhai is sent to Australia on an important mission to deal with antisocial elements there. In Australia, he meets Ilavarasi, and they fall in love with each other. Jaggubhai fails in his mission for which he came to Australia, and the brief romance with Ilavarasi also ends abruptly. Jaggubhai returns to India as a dejected officer, failing in both his official duty and personal life. However, fate had something in store for him. 20 years later, or as he says it 21 years later, he gets a call from Australia stating that Ilavarasi is dead and has left him a will. He reaches Australia and is shocked to know that the brief encounter with Ilavarasi had resulted in a daughter named Monisha, who is now a teenager. Jaggubhai realises that he has left behind his daughter and her wish that he should protect her. Monisha thinks he is her mother’s friend and tries to act cranky. The threat comes in the form of some antisocial elements who want to eliminate Monisha. These thugs were the same ones who had tricked Jaggubhai 21 years earlier and who had killed Ilavarasi. Now, it is Jaggubhai’s duty to save his only daughter and settle old scores with the thugs. He now meets his former colleague Kaaliyappan or MIB. With his help, he kills the thugs and their leader Hamid Ansari (Richard Raj). Monisha then accepts Jaggubhai as her father. In mid-2004, planned a film under the title with the proposed cast including in the lead role playing a terrorist, and was finalised to play the female lead role. The film had a photoshoot and was touted to be Rajinikanth’s comeback film after the debacle of in 2002. Shortly after filming began, however, due to creative differences between Rajinikanth and Ravikumar, was delayed and subsequently shelved. Ravikumar revived the project in 2008 with as the lead actor. was signed as the art director while Sarathkumar’s home production company Radaan Mediaworks and collaborated to produce the film. , who was picked to portray the mother in the film, opted out due to her discontent in being the mother of the heroine, played by . After approaching , , and for the role, actress agreed to do the mother’s role, demanding a sum of (equivalent to 1.9 crore or US$220,000 in 2023) but later walked out. Newcomer Srisha was later handed that role. was also handed a role in the film, which is touted to be the first of her comeback. A full-length, unfinished version of was leaked and released on the internet and DVDs, far from the official release date. The leaked version did not have any background score or sound effects. Radhika, Sarathkumar and Ravikumar held a press meet condemning the film’s piracy. The press meet was supported by Rajinikanth, and among others. The filmmakers later reshot the climax. The soundtrack, released on 27 September 2009, was scored by newcomer Rafee, a Singapore-based musician and former assistant to . Pavithra Srinivasan of rated the album 2.5 out of 5 stars. had a well-attended premiere on 27 January 2010 at a popular multiplex in Chennai, with the event being dubbed as the most well-attended film premiere of all time for a Tamil film. The film was theatrically released two days later. Pavithra Srinivasan of gave a very negative review of the film, criticising all major aspects from performance to production values, labelling Ravikumar as “the biggest culprit” whilst mentioning that “the screenplay is silliness personified”. She described Sarathkumar as “a major disappointment, despite being given a role that would make any actor go green with envy”, whilst Saran “gains brownie points by looking hot in various skimpy dresses” despite “not [being] successful in acting”. was relatively less critical, describing the film as “run of the mill” though citing that the “major plus point of the film is that it is only 2 hours, and the camera work of RD Rajasekhar is scintillating”. The critical said Sarathkumar, with his “macho tough look carries the film on his shoulders”, while Saran as the spoiled brat is “adequate”. They added that Srisha “can’t emote” while Goundamani is a “scream”.</p>