Jatadhara Review: Sonakshi Sinha's film promises grandeur but delivers chaos

Jatadhara Story:

Shiva (Sudheer Babu) is a ghost hunter who discovers that a terrifying demoness (Sonakshi Sinha) is guarding a treasure of gold and has a thirst for blood. The demoness has already crossed paths with the greedy Shobha (Shilpa Shirodkar), who is after the gold. When things do not go as planned, Shiva takes charge, and the rest of the story is about how Shiva and the demoness face off.

Jatadhara Review

Jatadhara has been directed by Abhishek Jaiswal and Venkat Kalyan. They pen a fantasy drama that is clueless for the most part. The film starts with an interesting flashback, and things look promising. But from the moment Sudheer Babu’s character is introduced, things go for a toss. There is no proper clarity in the proceedings, and the over-the-top drama and scenes bore you big time.

The characters are loud and do not make sense for the most part. The director duo takes way too much time to establish the characters; each has its own individual space, but adds no depth to the film. 

On top of that, the screenplay is subpar and fails to evoke any interest. One gets the feeling that the makers had no clue while narrating the script, as there isn’t a single episode that creates an impact.

The flashback of Sonakshi Sinha is decent, but that too is dragged unnecessarily. There are a few strict scenes that impress, for example, the ones in which Sudheer Babu's parents are unveiled look decent. In such fantasy dramas, emotion is what makes things stand out, but in Jatadhara, the emotions fall flat and fail to hold your attention.

One cannot ignore the silly way in which the makers have presented the key characters in the film. The climax is handled well, but gets dragged for no reason. There is no denying the fact that the makers have lost the seriousness in the script and turned Jatadhara into a boring affair with over-the-top characters.

Sonakshi Sinha gets to play a demoness, and she is good. But for some reason, the effects designed around her character are not impressive. Sonakshi's screen presence is well utilized, and whenever she is on screen, she looks great. 

Sudheer Babu gets to play yet another different role as Shiva. In one of the scenes, he performs a small Thandavam and is very good. But sadly, all his efforts go in vain as he has limited screen presence.

Shilpa Shirodkar makes a comeback to Telugu cinema after a very long gap and makes her presence felt. Though her character is showcased in a loud way, Shilpa does her best. The likes of Srinivas Avasarala are wasted in their respective roles. The editing is poor, as at least ten minutes should have been chopped off in both halves.

The camerawork is not up to the mark, and the VFX is poorly done. The production values are also disappointing, as the film looks stale and bores you till the end. Jatadhara might look good at the outset, but underneath, it delivers nothing and tests your patience big time.

Jatadhara Verdict:

On the whole, Jatadhara is a loud and boring fantasy drama that has nothing going its way. Top talents like Sonakshi Sinha and Sudheer Babu are wasted, making this film a tiresome watch this weekend.

Also Read: The Girlfriend Review: Rashmika Mandanna's career-best act from lover to survivor steals the show 

FAQs

Q. Is Sonakshi Sinha making her Telugu debut?

A. Yes, Sonakshi Sinha is making her Telugu debut with Jatadhara.

Q. Who are the main leads in Jatadhara?

A. The film has Sudheer Babu, Sonakshi Sinha, Shilpa Shirodkar, and Divya Khossla.

Q. Where to stream Jatadhara on OTT?

A. You can stream the film on Zee5 and also OTTplay Premium