Tom and Jerry movie review: Nischith Korodi’s film on middle-class values is a tad too melodramatic

2/5

Story: Dharma (Nischith Korodi) and Satya (Chaitra Achar), inmates of the same orphanage as children, get families to call their own. Dharma goes to a middle-class household that unfortunately loses all their belongings, while Satya grows up in the midst of luxury. Unhappy with his circumstances, Dharma grows up with only one goal - to become rich, while Satya prefers a life of hardship. Despite their vastly varied perspectives on life, they reconnect as adults, become friends and have feelings for each other. But will the

Review: The uniquely titled Tom and Jerry, which was Nischith Korodi’s follow up to the coming-of-age-film Gantumoote, got a limited theatrical release in early November last year and is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video. The film, directed by Raaghav Vinay Shivagange, takes a hard look at socio-economic differences between the haves and the have nots, with the latter focusing on ‘becoming rich’, than on finding the little joys in life.

In principle, the subject of Tom and Jerry is relevant in society, where making money and growing in monetary stature is the order of the day. Unfortunately, Raaghav’s narrative is a tad too melodramatic for this to register. The film opens with two children, Dharma and Satya, being adopted from an orphanage. Years later, they reconnect and strike up an unlikely friendship. He believes only a life of riches will make him happy, while she doesn’t see the allure, having grown up amid luxury. While they develop feelings for each other over time, their views on money and lifestyle keep them apart. Can they find middle-ground and unite?

The friendship between Dharma and Satya, as well as their bus rides home, along with a bunch of a regular commuters, form some of the better moments of the film. But the rest of it is just too preachy and yawn-inducing. Even the standard commercial movie tropes – fights and gang wars - do nothing to elevate the narrative and feel like force-fitted elements to allow Nischith showcase his prowess in such scenes. Not a very successful mission, one could say.

Chaitra Rao, as Satya, is convincing for the most part, although, the choice to represent her ‘rebel’ streak with a head full of dreadlocks that is befuddling, especially since her mane is an equal mix of beautifully maintained silken locks and unkempt dreads. Jai Jagadish and Tara bring in their usual A game to the limited screen time they have.

Verdict: The best part about a film being on OTT is that it allows you to skip ahead portions that are boring. If you do that and don’t spend two-and-half-hours on this, you may be able to sit through this.