Tuck Jagadish (2021)

There is absolutely no explanation for this movie except Telugu cinema. It started off with a woman throwing red chilli powder into her brother-in-law's eyes in the middle of the night over a property dispute, which eventually led to a man saying this line out loud in a village mediation meeting: "If I sleep with your wife in my farm, will she become mine?"

The thing is, I had actually gone into Tuck Jagadish with an open mind, despite all the negative reviews I had already heard. I was also one of the very few people who had liked the trailer, so I was hoping I would like the movie too. In a way, I did. The last half hour was full mass (what I wanted), Natural Star Nani at his best (what I came for), and some great dramaTM moments. But the journey I had to undertake to reach this cherished half hour was simply too much. Every single moment of the movie is messy, and there is some very weird sexual politics at play here, with a wife/cheating joke thrown in every few minutes completely unprovoked. I guess one day I will have to write a proper thesis on the sexual weirdness in Shiva Nirvana's films.

Also, what was up with Jagapathi Babu's looks?? Where was the salt-and-pepper??? This performance and role was somehow worse than what he did in Miss India (2020), a movie I still cannot think about without shuddering. 

Another issue was the whole "tucking" thing. When it's going to in the title of your movie, you better make it interesting, instead of some very random quirk that's glorified unnecessarily!

By the way, the Naxalism sub-plot (or whatever it was), made me say "what the tuck" out loud, which pretty much sums up my feelings about the rest of the movie. There were also some glorious bits where Nani tries to teach Ritu Varma feminism, but I'll leave it at that coz no spoilers. Speaking of the lead pair: how many times must I scream that getting two incredibly attractive people in your film does not necessarily guarantee a good chemistry!! The romance track was so forced and could only be salvaged because the actors are decent enough. However, Nani did try his best to de-normalise consanguineous marriages, so maybe I should stop complaining. It is 2021 after all.

In conclusion, everyone should watch this movie, because why should I suffer with this tucking mess alone??