Japan review: Karthi shoulders a relentless drama
This internet sensation-robber has 182 cases against him and has been evading the police after looting jewellery worth Rs 200 crore. The quirky robber strongly believes karma will have the last laugh
Poster from the movie 'Japan'
Cast: Karthi, Vaagai Chandrasekar, Vijay Milton, Anu Emmanuel, Sunil, Navaneeth and Aashna
Director: Rajumurugan
Music Director: GV Prakash Kumar
Rating: 2.5/5
For his 25th film, Karthi joined hands with Rajumurugan whose Joker (2016) won the National award. A solid performer and a flamboyant writer coming together means that Japan will ring in early Deepavali celebrations across south India for all movie geeks. After almost a decade, Karthi is back to doing a comic caper and with the trailer and teaser, we were also assured that Rajumurugan is trying something new.
Japan starts off with a Rs 200 crore burglary at a jewellery store and Karthi is introduced to us in a film-within-film. Japan Muni aka Japan is a quirky robber and his voice modulation makes us giggle at the start. Police conduct a search in nearby areas and arrest a few suspects. Meanwhile, Japan is in a hospital and has been tested HIV positive. But that doesn’t bother him as well as the story, and goes about his usual routine along with his close associates Gangatharan (Jithan Ramesh), and Vaagai Chandrasekhar (Perinbam). Japan is in love with Sanju (Anu Emmanuel)whom he had introduced as an actress in one of his films.
Karthi, with his innovative modulation and body language makes us smile in places that have hard-hitting dialogues. Flurry of characters and regular storyline leave us with nothing much to say about this film. Japan is on the run and police chase him. In the second half, we learn that Japan knows that he has 181 cases on him and has no clue about who is behind the theft and has pinned the blame on him. The story travels to Kashmir, Kerala and other parts of India with less intrigue. It is Karthi, who shoulders the movie in his refreshing avatar.
Very little has been done to make the screenplay look interesting. Ravi Varman has made the best use of locations in delivering top-notch visuals. With nothing much to the story, GV Prakash too couldn’t do much with his background music for the film, which is a strange occurrence. Anu Emmanuel comes across as a touch-and-go female lead in Japan. We would have loved to see Karthi in an author-backed role in his milestone movie. Overall, Japan has very little to offer and is neither a Karthi film nor Raju Murugan’s.