Good Luck Jerry: Remembering Nayanthara's outstanding performance in Kolamaavu Kokila

A film with a female protagonist who is both the picture of innocence and a drug dealer is a refreshing change in a film industry that is constantly chastised for not writing more interesting roles for women. If Janhvi Kapoor is fortunate, Good Luck Jerry should give the young actor's career the boost that the original Tamil film gave its leading lady, Nayanthara. The Hindi film is based on Nelson Dilipkumar's Kolamaavu Kokila (2018), which he directed and wrote.

Nayanathara played Kokila, a young woman from a working-class family in Chennai who struggles to make ends meet after being fired from her job as a spa manager for refusing her boss' sexual advances. Kokila's mother is diagnosed with lung cancer around the same time. Kokila chose to assist a smuggling gang in delivering a shipment of cocaine. All of this could have resulted in a sombre or serious film, but Kolamaavu Kokila is quirky and wacky instead.

Was Nelson's dark comedy coherent? Not entirely, but there was a lot to like about it. The original Tamil film was a sleeper hit, with audiences praising the film's witty narrative treatment. The plot is similar to that of the American television show Breaking Bad, but it takes place in Gummidipoondi. The concept of a single woman struggling for the sake of her family is not novel. These films typically take a melodramatic turn as the heroine makes sacrifice after sacrifice only to be betrayed by those around her. Nayanthara's expressions range from deadpan to wide-eyed innocence tinged with fear. Much of the comedy in the film comes from unexpected moments.

The previous year had seen Nayanthara shine in films such as Dora, Aramm, and Velaikkaran, and the popularity of Kolamaavu Kokila cemented the actor's status as a solo movie star in the male-dominated Tamil film industry. It also paved the way for the actress to star in films like Imaikaa Nodigal, Mookuthi Amman, and Netrikann. Nelson went on to make the dark action comedy Doctor (starring Sivakarthikeyan) and, most recently, Vijay's Beast after Kolamaavu Kokila.

In an interview, Nelson Dilipkumar said, initially, the team thought of making a small-budget film, but it garnered a lot of attention when Nayanthara came on board. The filmmaker had written the script having the Lady Superstar in mind. “I have known her since her Vallavan days. I was supposed to assist Simbu (his schoolmate), but it somehow didn’t happen. We were constantly in touch with each other though. When I approached her with the script, she instantly liked it. Also, during the two-hour narration, she felt quite a lot of incidents were funny. I knew her reply would be positive,” he added.