KJQ Movie Review: Dheekshith Shetty Shines in a Crime Saga with Unfulfilled Potential
The Telugu film KJQ, directed by the late Kiran Kumar Meenuga, is an out-and-out male fantasy circling a man's obsession with power over the world and women. The movie begins with a desperate voiceover that ties a man's destiny to the place and the family he is born into.
King Jackie Queen (KJQ) charts the journeys of three flawed characters, who make contrasting choices to overcome their hopeless circumstances. The film narrates the stories of Partha (Dheekshith Shetty), Jackie (Shashi Odela) and Bhargavi (Yukti Thareja) across as many chapters, capturing their worldviews in totality, paving the way for a dramatic conclusion.
Problematic World-Building and Misogyny
Despite its ambitious ideas, the world-building in KJQ is shaky and largely problematic. Partha's rise to power feels like a formality, without him being truly tested at any point. He and his men repeatedly go on killing sprees and silence their detractors, without any real opposition.
The film's representations of women are also regressive, including a single mother struggling to resist a police officer's advances, a married woman running a sex trafficking cartel, and a wife who commits suicide due to her husband's infidelity.
As a key character points out to Partha, 'You don't know how to love a woman, because you are in love with yourself, your ego and pride.' This is the crux of KJQ: fragile male ego, where men cannot take no for an answer.
Dheekshith Shetty's Performance
Dheekshith Shetty is the only actor in the line-up committed to making something of a character who is a tornado of insecurity. He shines in his role as Partha, lending some personality to an unlikeable part. Shashi Odela appears as lost and clueless as Jackie, struggling to express his inner turmoil, wearing a blank expression throughout.
Yukti Thareja's spunk comes through only in bits and pieces, while Guru Somasundaram is royally wasted in an inconsequential role. Poornachandra Tejaswi's songs are generally disappointing, barring the imaginative Tillana fusion.
The cinematography does not leave much of an impression either. Late filmmaker Kiran Kumar Meenuga's KJQ could have been a cutting-edge, alternative interpretation of a crime saga if only it was more committed to exploring the conflicts of its lead characters, sans the apparent misogyny.
