Jack N Jill: The Hype, the Hope, and the Humbling of a Sci-Fi Dream
Initially, the announcement of ‘Jack N Jill’ suggested that the Malayalam film industry was going to explore new genres. The anticipation was for ‘exciting new sci-fi Malayalam cinema’ and ‘inspiring new Malayalam female lead.’ This was fueled by the presence of Manju Warrier, one of the most celebrated actors of Kerala, and Santosh Sivan. The latter was a most respected cinematographer, and had, and still has, a flourshing reputation for visual beauty and compelling narratives. The combination of female empowerment, science fiction, and action came across as a game changer to Malayalam cinema. The film was expected to push the boundaries of the industry, with stylish visual narratives.
Yet, the offering of the film in May 2022 changed that perception. The film was lacking a cohesive vision, and execution was shallow. ‘Jack N Jill’ was a film of broken promises and poor delivery of star potential. It has become a case study in the foolishness of misplaced expectations.
A Thought-Provoking Concept with a Sci-Fi Wrapper
At its conceptual stage, Jack N Jill aimed at examining a near-future scenario of the integration of artificial intelligence with human consciousness. The narrative centers around Kesh (Kalidas Jayaram), a brilliant yet eccentric scientist who returns to his roots with a singular aim, to experiment with a device he has invented, one that promises to expand human brain abilities and control over emotions, with the rest of the town as Kesh’s over and experiment his device. He chooses Parvathy (Manju Warrier), a woman with an emotionally unstable and traumatic past, as his test subject.
The story arc was intended to convey the duality of change — one, the technology and the other, the transformation of Parvathy. The invention enables Parvathy to regain control over herself, and morph into a near superhuman that defiantly takes the fight against the social and criminal exploitation of the morally corrupt. For Malayalam cinema, which rarely engages with speculative cinema, this narrative with a central character that is a woman, was a brave and new construct.
The execution encountered challenges. The script was inconsistent with shifting tones that could not fully commit to the seriousness or levity of the theme. The combination of slapstick humor with elements of a techno-thriller created a disjointed and inconsistent narrative. The intent of providing a narrative around empowerment and innovation was lost in a scattershot execution that felt unrefined.
The Heroine Who Carried More Than Her Character
The emotional core of Jack N Jill was undoubtedly Manju Warrier, who after a fourteen hiatus, returned to cinema and became a symbol of renewed resilience. In the film, her character Parvathy, who is exploited, experimented upon, and ultimately reborn, echoes Manju’s own inspiring story.
Since her first portrayal of an empowered female lead in the 2014 film How Old Are You, Manju has taken roles that defy accepted norms of female characters. With Jack N Jill, she boldly stepped into the science fiction genre, which is a rarity in Malayalam cinema. In preparation for the film she choreographed her own stunts, learned motion-capture, and was actively involved in the visual experimentation of the film.
Nonetheless, her conviction couldn’t completely salvage the scattered screenplay. Nevertheless, there were brilliant moments in her performance, particularly with scenes in which Parvathy seems to mentally and physically reclaim her autonomy. There is an almost serene intensity with which she embodies trauma and rebirth, and that raw energy is that reminder of what the film could have been. For a large section of the audience, the only part of the film that Manju seemed to deliver with conviction was the part of the movie’s chaotic elements that was imaginatively anchored to purpose.
Kalidas Jayaram: The Scientist Lost in Translation
For Kalidas Jayaram, the film was another opportunity to reset his career after some questionable choices softened the trajectory of his promise. With Jack N Jill marketed as a vehicle to showcase his versatility, he plays “Kesh” in the film, one of the titular characters, with the expected level of light eccentricity and a somewhat high-tech order of Western sci-fi characters, like a less cohesive and charismatic version of “Tony Stark.”
To be fair, Kalidas’s acting challenge was not the most difficult aspect of his performance. It was the lack of clarity surrounding his character’s framework: his motivations, dialogue and emotional arc were lost in the chaos. They are there, perplexing in their disordered construct, as with scenes where he is meant to grapple with guilt and ambivalence around his experiment, and unfortunately the film does not allow him the room to construct a complex character.
At that time, it is fascinating that Kalidas was multitasking with Puthiya Niyamam and Argentina Fans Kaattoorkadavu. Jack N Jill was intended to present the variety in his performance — switching focus from light-heartedness to the more serious undertones in a character, and vice versa — yet it succeeded in obscuring the different emotional aspects and reducing the character to a more simplistic version of itself.
Santosh Sivan’s Vision: Beauty in Fragments
There are certain moments of Jack N Jill that are visually impressive. There is much to be appreciated in terms of visual composition in the different settings of the film and the use of color. Sivan’s cinematic style of palette construction used to be an innovative technique in the regional film industry. Each and every image seems to be painted and the attention to lights and the storytelling helps to communicate the issue of silence and dialogue.
Having ambitious ideas, Sivan began to think about the possibilities for the future. While talking about creating Jack N Jill, he explained it as a “visual experiment” which went into the direction of integrating Malayalam cinema with a futuristic Pan-Indian perspective. He deployed techniques such as sophisticated visual effects integrations and innovative camera rigs as Sivan described in interviews, which are rarely used in regional cinema. Yet, the ambition on the technical side wouldn’t make up for the script which unbalanced the film and needed more emotional coherence.
Pre-release expectations had panned out for Jack N Jill. There was a sense of excitement in the air for Sivan, as it was the first time in nearly a decade he was directing in Malayalam cinema. Expectations for the film were for Sivan to create cinema that was emotionally complex and rich in visuals, like Halo or Navarasa. People were excited for the film, and all over social media, as it was the first time Sivan was directing with Manju Warrier. The first trailers for the film suggested an extravagant and stylized approach as seen in sci-fi Hollywood movies.
However, the excitement was misplaced, and the response from the audience was filled with harsh criticism. The majority of the audience was able to see the vision for the film and praise it for that, while the faulty vision summed up the film for the rest. The film had a weak narrative and was described as “a visual wonder without a soul.” Cults sprung up on the film, praising the ambition and vision, to the extent of placing it on streaming services. However, it was diffused, and never became a film for people to applaud to in a cinema filled with them.
What Happened Behind the Curtains
As Jack N Jill post-production dragged on, a few people seemed to realise the film had a challenging post-production phase. The film had been made before the pandemic, but the release was postponed due to issues reworked, technical issues and distribution issues. As Sivan wanted to maintain an experimental tone, some of the final cut disputes came from him and the producers who seemed to want a more commercial rhythm.
The post-production phase was challenging, but there were issues during the shoot. The production seeked to do so much that it hurt them, particularly the virtual and augmented reality and AI testing scenes, which were re shot to clear the confusion of the audience. The lack of adequate CGI and the editing were the results came down to budget.
The uncontrolled production creative discord, which was particularly around the film’s sound, background score and Sivan, who was personally supervising it. While these creative discords remained unacknowledged, the film was made to look too visionary for its own good.A Dream Too Early for Its Time
Jack N Jill still feels like a film stuck between genius and experimentation, an idea too advanced for its storytelling pace. The Manju Warrier’s unfaltering presence, Santosh Sivan’s keen eye for beauty, and the sincere energy of Kalidas Jayaram all engaged with a tale that struggled to articulate itself.
For Malayalam cinema, Jack N Jill is a reminder of the importance and the volatility of risk taking. It may not have succeeded in delivering the groundbreaking sci-fi, but in its attempt to dream beyond the confines of realism, it captured something equally admirable: the courage to fail, spectacularly, in the company of the stars it ambitiously attempted to reach.
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