BUNDLE OF EXCITING ENTERTAINMENT FOR A BUSHEL OF ENJOYMENT

Someone once said, rhetorically perhaps, “Entertainment is the devil’s substitute for joy.”

But why complain if good ole’ entertainment serves as a surrogate for happiness that everyone cherishes in life? “ಜಾಕೀ” (‘Jackie’) is a 2010 Kannada action thriller, which delivers a supersized serving of ‘joy’ with a unique brand of quick-paced narration. The film, a box-office bonanza, won a bunch of awards too.

The story revolves around the male protagonist, Janakirama alias Jackie (Puneeth Rajkumar), a poor widow’s son. The goofy, happy-go-lucky fella’s pipe dream is to make it big in realty. A high school dropout, the talkative do-gooder is never short of repartee though. He unwittingly helps the local priest’s daughter, Yashoda (Harshika Poonacha), elope with her lover, Parangi Seena (Vikas), who is actually part of a human trafficking network.

Blamed for Yashoda’s disappearance, Jackie sets out to trace her…and, that triggers a gambol ride. His search is predictably filled with potholes and pitfalls, figuratively speaking. He saves Lakshmi (Bhavana), who is about to be sacrificed in a ritual. But, more trouble brews when the police suspect him of murdering a blind girl who accompanied Yashoda. Eventually though, he gets pally with a police constable, Bheemanna (Rangayana Raghu) and tracks down the baddies, Prasanna alias Jooli (Petrol Prasanna) and the trafficking mafia kingpin, Mithai Rama (Ravi Kale).

The showdown and the rescue of the abducted girls from the clutches of the goons is the climax.

The flick provides a heady concoction on celluloid of mawkish sentiment and clownish amusement. There is never a dull moment though! Director Duniya Soori keeps your heart pumping hard and adrenalin flowing thick throughout the film with his trademark narration, which engages, nay immerses you.

Puneet is adorably charming as the rustic protagonist, Jackie. Rangayana is flawless too in his portrayal of a petty, corrupt cop. V Harikrishna’s musical configurations for Yograj Bhat’s lyrical compositions are innovative and catchy. The technical team, in particular, cameraman Sathya Hegde has put in brilliant, accolade-worthy work.  The editing is slick and suave.

In short, the movie is windfall of entertainment for the attention-deficit afflicted new millennials.

I rate this action thriller: 8.0 on 10!