Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Jagame Thandhiram’ on Netflix, A Gangland Thrill Ride Through London And Tamil Nadu

The Indian action thriller Jagame Thandhiram (Netflix) thrives off of the energy that bursts from actor, writer, and singer Venkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja, better known as Dhanush. As Suruli, he’s bashing in henchman’s heads one minute, wooing a pretty lady the next, and sass mouthing murderous British thugs on the regular — he also sings, dances, and can cook up a storm. Dhanush is the heart and soul of this rollicking gangland actioner with a larger message about the price of globalism. 

JAGAME THANDIRAM: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Jagame Thandhiram pits the savvy, braggadocio, relentless charm and decidedly elastic ethical code of a Tamil gangster named Suruli (Dhanush) against British crime lord Peter Sprott (James Cosmo), a loutish bear of a man who wears racism and classism like a herringbone top coat. When Peter’s operation in London becomes continually hampered by the gangland operations of Savadoss (Joju George), a Tamil expat and brilliant crime lord himself who smuggles arms and gold, Suruli is tapped to be Peter’s eyes and ears on how to quell the Savadoss threat. A month in London and hundreds of thousands of pounds in payment? It’s an offer the smirking Suruli can’t refuse, especially because some static at home has a rival gang hunting for his head. The grinning, elegantly-mustached gangster heads for the UK, but not before single handedly taking out seven or eight thugs who attack him at his restaurant. Did we mention he makes a mean parotta?

In London, Suruli brushes off Peter’s blatant racism as the clownish talk of an out-of-touch colonizer. He also quickly sniffs out Savadoss’ entire operation in the space of three or four days’ surveillance, learning how gold bars are imported from war-ravaged countries and small arms sent out via a front business in Indian funerals. (That’s right, those coffins are packed with some extra weight.) Peter is an oaf, and a hateful one at that. But Suruli doesn’t mind taking his cash, and more or less sees the whole battle with Savadoss as a lark. He also finds time to put the moves on a local Tamil singer, Attila (Aishwarya Lekshmi).

With the gangland slayings getting out of control, Suruli orchestrates a truce meet between Peter and Savadoss, while harboring a darker plan for a double cross. It still doesn’t seem like anything he hasn’t done at home — sure, the streets of London are nicer, but cruelty, violence, and gain are international commodities. It’s only when the more unseemly facts of Peter’s stake in private prisons and push for a far-reaching national immigration bill are revealed that Suruli has to wipe the smile off his own mug for one second and consider what all of this underworld skulduggery might mean for refugees from countries like his, and people who look like him. Suruli learns truths about the real nature of one’s identity — and how important that is to fight for — as the gunplay gets ever closer to where he now calls home.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of? Netflix has been a solid platform for Tamil film, and especially for those mixing the action and intrigue of contemporary Hollywood productions with a sense of homegrown cultural identity, like Jagame Thandhiram and the recent Petta. Amazon Prime has also gotten into the game with the espionage series The Family Man. Additionally, in its burrowing into the inner workings of crime and street-level punishment in London, Jagame offers more than a glimmer of the Guy Ritchie School.

Performance Worth Watching: As Savadoss, Joju George inhabits a larger-than-life character who is equal parts ruthless crime boss, spiritual leader, wise benefactor, and heroic defender of the stateless and displaced. Hirsute, careful in his speech, and draped in robes and cable-knit, George makes Savadoss an undeniably captivating presence on screen, whether he’s going head to head with another top criminal or simply preparing tea for a pal.

Memorable Dialogue: Suruli is driven by a belief in himself that bursts like sunlight from his veins. Even when he’s nabbed by Savadoss’s goons and brought before the big boss, his rakish confidence remains off the charts. “You may plan to kill me right here, right now, but if any such unfortunate incident happens, I’ve ensured that all your information reaches Peter, who will burn you to ashes. So I would ask you to let me live for your own good. Can I bum a smoke now, please?”

Sex and Skin: Nothing to see here.

Our Take: Bathed in rich chay-root dye reds and often opting for daylight shots, rain or shine, Jagame Thandhiram has a strong visual sense that permutates alongside Suruli’s ever-changing facial hair. There’s always a lot to take in, whether it’s telling details like the “white power” license plate of Peter’s stretch limo or the bursts of buoyant Tamil dance that punctuate the film’s shifting locales. An extended early sequence finds Suruli and his friends and family dancing and singing to the rousing song “Rakita Rakita Rakita,” in which the likeable gangster proclaims himself to be his own king, and that nobody can stop him but him. “You’re not invincible,” a friend tells him later, and Suruli puts that to the test once he arrives in London. But it’s fun to watch this guy do pretty much anything — even when that anything becomes quite violent — so it’s hard not to believe in his colorful, charmed life.

When the stark realities of the globalized trade in weapons, money, and people start to weigh on its narrative, the almost cartoonish bad deeds and violence of its first half can start to feel distant, like a different film entirely. Fortunately there are strong performances here to anchor the whole thing, in particular Dhanush as the relentlessly beguiling Suruli and Joju George as Savadoss, but also Aishwarya Lekshmi, whose Atilla becomes instrumental to shifting Suruli’s worldview, and James Cosmo as the coarse crime boss Peter. (You’ll recognize the 6′ 3″ Cosmo’s gruff countenance from Game of Thrones, where he portrayed Night Watch commander Jeor Mormont.) And when it comes right down to it, after all of the violence and sad commentary on the state of the world, you find yourself unable to bet against Suruli’s unsinkable panache. He’s a great character to build a cinematic world around.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Likeable, funny, and shot through with sharper notes of contemporary cultural struggle, Jagame Thandhiram is compelling and highly watchable. It’s also a guarantee that you’ll get “Rakita Rakita Rakita” stuck in your head.

Johnny Loftus is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift. Follow him on Twitter: @glennganges

Watch Jagame Thandhiram on Netflix