Zee Studios, Prerna Arora and Ess Kay Gee Entertainments’ Jatadhara (dubbed from the Telugu film of the same name; A) is the story of a ghost hunter who doesn’t believe in ghosts and spirits till he encounters spirits himself. Shiva (Sudheer Babu) is a ghost hunter who doesn’t believe that ghosts even exist. But life teaches him such a lesson that he is forced to believe in their existence. The first spirits he encounters are those of his biological parents. After that, Shiva is forced to fight the evil spirit of Dhana Pisaachi (Sonakshi Sinha). There is a back story of Dhana Pisaachi and Shiva’s parents. What happens in the fight between Shiva and Dhana Pisaachi forms the crux of the drama because on that depends the future of Shiva.
Venkat Kalyan’s story is neither interesting nor convincing. His screenplay in the first half looks disjointed because several incomplete points are explained only in the second half. The drama of the second half is better because the loose ends of the pre-interval part are tied up, but the pre-interval portion is dull overall except for some sequences. In the second half, Shiva’s (hero Sudheer) absence for a long period of time in the drama looks lopsided. As for Dhana Pisaachi (heroine Sonakshi Sinha), her entry in the drama is quite late. Another anomaly is that the portion of the drama which doesn’t have the hero in focus, is the most interesting part. The last part of the drama, in which Neelkanth shastriji (Subhalekha Sudhakar) explains the way to overpower Dhana Pisaachi, is so technical that the viewers almost get put off. The angle of Shiva being able to talk to the spirits looks unbelievable. Similarly, Manish Sharma (Avasarala Srinivas) and his team tracking Dhana Pisaachi’s spirit in the climax looks quite convenient because the audience wonders on what basis they are inferring what they are inferring. Dialogues, penned by Shiv Gopal Krishna and Pankaj Raina, are okay but should’ve been more forceful.
Sudheer Babu looks ordinary and does an average job as Shiva. The fire in his acting is missing; it appears as if he is holding himself back. Sonakshi Sinha impresses as Dhana Pisaachi. Divya Khosla is alright in a special appearance as Sitara. Shilpa Shirodkar makes her mark as Shobha. Indira Krishna is realistic as Devi. Subhalekha Sudhakar lends decent support as Neelkanth shastriji. Rajeev Kanakala makes his presence felt. Ravi Prakash delivers a natural performance as Vasu. Rohit Pathak makes his presence felt as Balraj. Pradeep Rawat is impressive as the tantrik. Jhansi Laxmi is natural as Janki. Avasarala Srinivas is quite good as Manish Sharma. Naveen Neni is alright as Rajesh. Sreedhar Reddy (as the new tantrik), Anand Chakrapani (as the temple pujari), Akshay (as Ankit Tiwari), Naga Chaitanya (as young Shiva), Balamma (as Kanakava), Rupa Laxmi (as Sitara’s mother), and the others provide fair support.
Venkat Kalyan and Abhishek Jaiswal’s direction is ordinary. They have not been able to add the thrill element to the desired level in their narration of the fantastical drama. Also, the audience do not feel for the protagonist as much as they should, because the emotional quotient is just not enough. Rajeev Raj’s music is fair. Lyrics (by Singhcity) are alright. Choreography (by Jithu Master and Aata Sandeep) is reasonably good. Background music (Rajeev Raj) is impactful. Sameer Kalyani’s cinematography is good. Computer graphics and visual effects are okay. Ajay Thakur’s action and stunt scenes are not half as exciting as they ought to have been. Prabhat Thakur’s production designing is of a fairly nice standard. Karthika Srinivas R.’s editing is quite sharp. Dubbing is proper.
On the whole, Jatadhara is a non-starter. It also does not have the merits to warrant a pick-up in collections.
Released on 7-11-’25 at Metro Inox (daily 2 shows) and other cinemas of Bombay by Zee Studios. Publicity: below the mark. Opening: poor. …….Also released all over. Opening was weak everywhere.
