Jai Maruthi 800 Movie Review

Jeeva, our protagonist, loses his best friend Raghu and has to fulfil his last wish, which is to free his mother from an evil warlord. When he reaches there, he is caught between two warring hamlets, with a history dating back to 16th century. How does he overcome these problems to emerge victorious?

Much like Prabhudheva, Shankar or P Vasu, choreographer-director A Harsha seems to be developing his own signature style of filmmaking, with some trademark elements as a part of them. These include allusions to Lord Hanuman, a hero in search of a journey that ties up with a backstory, ample mother sentiment scenes, mean warlords as villains and multiple heroines. Jai Maruthi 800 ends up the third in this series after Bhajarangi and Vajrakaaya.

The story of this film is reminiscent of both the Shivarajkumar-starrer in bits, though Harsha has cleverly weaved in ample comedy to suit Sharan's image. The cinematography, art direction and background score ensure that that one is kept engrossed, while Harsha's narrative has a generous mix of friendship, love, family values and revenge, to evoke multiple sentiments while watching.

Sharan, in his tailormade role, excels and the climax scenes featuring him sporting a six-pack with well-oiled abs are something new for his fans and will definitely draw whistles. Sruthi Hariharan has a typical Ms Goody-Two-Shoes role, which she owns with her subtle expressions and looks good in the songs too. Shubha Poonja, as the raunchy Smitha, is a hoot, especially for the front benchers and proves that she could handle comedy and glamorous role with equal ease as she does with her performance oriented roles. Saurav Lokesh and Madhu Guruswamy deserve special mention for their feisty performances as the two warring heads. The scenes featuring Kuri Pratap and Arun Sagar too are an added bonus for the masses.

While the introduction song is passable, the other three romantic numbers are hummable and linger on. Harsha has delivered an interesting watch as a Ugadi treat, despite him falling back on some of his usual staples. Watch this film if you like masala entertainers loaded with commercial must-haves.