When you step into films like Jithan 2 , you don’t quite expect to get blown away. You already know, at least on evidence from the trailer, that the film will only be so-so in aspects like technical finesse, storytelling subtlety, and acting prowess. What you desperately hope to see, however, is at least an attempt at good cinema, some proof that a few minds have deliberated over the film. There’s nothing of the sort in Jithan 2, which interestingly enough bears no connection with Jithan , except that the hero (Jithan Ramesh) is retained and he is called Surya.
A horror-comedy, Jithan 2 ’s paper-thin story often takes a backseat as it throws bad comedy set-pieces at you, one after another. Comedians Karunas, Mayilsamy and Robo Shankar all have dreadfully tiresome comedy tracks, which are, of course, about them getting terrified by the ghost’s presence. On some level, thanks to these films, I think I fear ghosts no more. Their modus operandi, at least in our films, has become apparent. If there are any ghosts reading this, here’s a list of items not to do if you’d like to be taken seriously: lift random items of furniture, drop framed photos, let your hair free and often let it fall in front of your face, talk like you have a perennial throat infection, and when you do, talk gutturally; dress up only in black or white; and of course, finally, don’t hurt the hero too badly.
There’s plenty to roll your eyes about in Jithan 2 . Surya’s dad, whose death is almost a parody, tells him as he’s dying that his dream is to buy a house. You’re dying a sudden death, and you say that? Everybody, I repeat, everybody, talks to the audience in asides. There isn’t much by way of logic either. In one scene, characters drink during the night, but are subsequently shown dancing in the day. The ghost, a woman (Srushti Dange), suddenly, for no reason, warms up to Surya. When Surya gets unhinged mentally, it is cured when a tennis ball hits him squarely on the head. But I suppose all this can be forgiven in a film whose ghost is so bored in the bungalow that it is shown dancing alone to a song in Taal. I wish I were making this up, but I’m not. Rahman apparently is so good now that he can make even grief-stricken ghosts dance.