I have no words abt SagarAliasJacky. But only one sentence
" PULI POLE VANNATHU ELI POLE AAYI"
This is not my words; lalettans fans words. becoz they expected not like dis. bcoz SagarAliasJacky is film with RS. 6CRORE expence.
1.Review by nowrunning:[1.5/5]
The resurrection of a character played by Mohanlal in 1987 to critical acclaim and box office success in "Irupathaam Noottandu" fails to excite because Amal Neerad's direction and cinematography are centred only on technical brilliance. He has ignored basics like a decent plot and plausible screenplay.
While characters created 22 years ago by director K. Madhu were pithy and realistic, their latest avatar in "Sagar alias Jackie Reloaded" fail to impress.
An unapologetic anti-hero was a novelty in the past.
The modern-day trappings of designer clothes, fashion-statements like sunglasses, flashy cars and exotic locales with Mohanlal at their centre strutting confidently to avenge the murder of his girlfriend are no doubt lapped up by his fans.
Neerad just about manages to keep the larger-than-life image of Mohanlal under discernible control and that is where it all starts and ends.
Mohanlal, as usual, delivers with aplomb. Jegathy as the Telugu speaking politician excels. But the others including Shobhana, Suman et al are mere cardboard cutouts.
Neerad's cinematography is excellent as each frame embellishes the dark mood of the proceedings. The music is nothing to write home about.
2.Review by rediff[2/5]:
Sagar Alias Jacky disappoints
More than 20 years ago, a young man opted for a life of crime and had no qualms accepting moral responsibility for his actions. His name was Sagar Alias Jacky, the protagonist in the Malayalam film, Irupatham Noottandu.
When asked by a nosey journalist friend about the reasons behind his choosing such a life -- she does not get a heart wrenching story of a simple man getting stuck in the quagmire of criminal life -- rather, he just throws a bunch of magazines and journals saying that each one of them has a glorified account of lifestyles of underworld dons in Mumbai [Images]. That was the uniqueness of Sagar alias Jacky.
We visit this man again in Amal Neerad directed Sagar Alias Jacky Reloaded. Surely, his stature has risen from being a mere henchman of a political bigwig to someone who politicians run to in time of crisis. He has also spread his wings internationally so much so that other big dons call him for help.
Alas! For all this, where is the emotionally chord we felt for the Sagar of yore? The humility of the man has vanished and he is shown caring for only 'his own people'. We can lazily term this effort as 'all style, no substance'.
That said, we do find however, a few vignettes of humanism in the most unexpected places -- especially in the romantic track with a TV reporter played by Bhavana (though the song used here is more like a speed breaker). He is protective of her as a guardian angel, but she develops love for him that is nipped in the bud by the villains so to speak. Here we feel that a bit of back story of Sagar would have given more substance to his character. Like what happens to Urvashi's character who was his lover waiting for him at the end of the original. The only continuation from there is Jagathy Sreekumar's Telugu-speaking comedian.
Mohanlal's is not as loud as his other superstar avatars. But we have seen him handle more complex characters with utmost ease. So, we don't feel bewitched by this performance and feel that he is just going through the motions here.
The others in the supporting characters are competent but no one to gush about here, which is a disappointment considering the presence of Shobhana and Nedumudi Venu.
And, talking about overuse of technology, yes there is technical pizzazz though a little simplicity would have made us feel closer to the characters.
The verdict? Amal Neerad's second directorial venture after Big B [Images] is just an average fare, which is a disappointment considering the high expectations.
3.Review by sify:[1/5]
Sagar takes super opening, but…
Mohanlal’s distribution concern Maxlabs has taken a whopping distributors share of Rs 1.33 crore within four days of Sagar alias Jacky release (March 26 to 29). It is a record opening share from 101 screens.
But the bad news for the producers Aashirwad Cinemas is that the film does not carry good word-of-mouth, and initial euphoria over collections is fast evaporating. There is nothing new in the film, and whether the film will be able to hold on is in doubt.
At the most the trade thinks Sagar alias Jacky is an average grosser that will cover its cost (reported to be around Rs 4.5 crore). A lot depends on how good the other three big Easter-Vishu releases are- 2 Harihar Nagar releasing on April 1, IG on April 3 and Moss and Cat on April 12.
If any of these films click with the family audiences, it will become even more difficult for Sagar to woo the summer special holiday audiences, who make or break a film.
Mohanlal’s highly hyped “stylish action thriller” Sagar alias Jacky- Reloaded directed by Amal Neerad, is all style and no substance!
This film promised to be the mother of all stylish films made in India. But sadly, director Amal Neerad clearly lacks a story and the skills required to turn that idea into an engaging film.
There is a sense of déjà vu as Amal has rehashed certain scenes, locations and characters from his earlier Big-B, and the end product looks like it has fallen off straight from the assembly line of stylized gangster movies like Musafir, Billa, D Company etc.
Where is the story Mr. S.N Swamy? Sagar alias Jacky (Mohanlal) is an international operator who outsmarts rivals like Naina (Suman) through his guts and determination and always emerges triumphant. However he has a problem to be sorted out in Kerala, where the Chief Minister’s (Nedumudi Venu) son-in-law, a good for nothing guy and his childhood friend Manu (Manoj.K.Jayan) is kidnapped. Manu’s wife Indu (Shobhana), finds that the Kerala Police is dragging its feet over it as their loyalty is with her elder brother Hari (Ganesh), a budding politician who wants to inherit his fathers political legacy.
Indu requests Sagar to bring back her husband who is held in Goa by the notorious gangsters Rozario brothers (Tamil villain Sampath, and the long haired bearded guy who played main villain in Big-B). Sagar flies in to Kochi, in his personal jet along with his 4 member gang.
They take on the Rozario brothers; rescue Manu which leads to more trouble with a host of baddies like Rahul Dev and ends with a final shoot out in a resort. For some romance and songs there is a television news reporter Aarathy Menon (Bhavana), who tries to investigate and expose Sagar and ends up falling in love with him and paying a price.
At times you get the feeling that Swamy has remade his K.Madhu directed Irupatham Nootandu, which was a far better entertainer. In fact, this film is the perfect example of the new style of film making being followed by young directors in south fed on Hollywood and Bollywood DVD’s. First decide and design action sequences, exotic locations, costumes and then write the story around that.
It's an opportunity lost, as Mohanlal the most flexible actor in Indian cinema is asked to look wooden and walk throughout wearing designer coats and leather jackets, which after a point of time becomes predictable or plain boring and agonizingly snail-paced. Jagathy Sreekumar is wasted while Jyothirmayee’s item dance fails to sizzle.
Added to that the director has employed the regular technique used by Ram Gopal Varma, Vishnu Vardhan and others to make their film look stylish- ramping technique, wide-angle lenses, top angle shots, sepia-toned photography, sharp cuts and a jarring loud background score and end titles rolling over with a special song.
But Sagar alias Jacky is not an unwatchable movie. For the locations and look, it can be seen. But what could have been a fearless, edgy action thriller is ultimately only a half-decent enterprise because it lacks a strong story. You can watch it only because it’s a new format but for most parts prepare to be seriously bored.
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