Director Sukumar, who had earlier shown a flair for romance and entertainment in his hit film "Arya", has disappointed his fans in "Jagadam", an action film with a clichéd plot involving a protagonist who turns into a social deviant.

Before taking a plunge into action movies, the director should have tried to find a strong, action-centric plot.

Sukumar was definitely inspired by the Hollywood film "City of God", but he is yet another filmmaker who fails to create a winner out of a Hollywood-remake.

The director appears to be so fascinated with 'violence' that he completely ignores the entertainment element. Also, he should have signed a senior actor to carry off this larger-than-life character.

Even the love track lacks sensitivity. However, Sukumar has managed to deliver some breathtaking scenes and has canned two good songs.

The director's confidence in cinematographer Rathnavel and composer Devisri Prasad stands vindicated as the former captivates with his picture-perfect lighting and the latter with some soulful tunes. The film is a regular potboiler except for Rathnavel's visuals and Prasad's compositions.

Up-and-coming actor Ram seems miscast in this violence-driven movie. Even his reformation is not well established. Debutant actress Isha looks quite awful and doesn't act well either.

Ram does deliver a few punch lines but his bashing up well-toned goons seems a bit hard to digest. The actor had impressed in "Devadasu" and probably believed he could carry off this macho role. But he hasn't succeeded. He looks more like a young college student than an aspiring goon. However, his performance is not bad.

While Pradeep Rawat and Prakash Raj, both veteran actors, try to salvage their badly etched roles, Bharani, Choudury and Saranya are tolerable.

The storyline goes something like this: Ram is fascinated with the underworld and aspires to become a goon. He befriends a thug from a local don's (Pradeep Rawat's) gang and gradually wins his confidence. He also falls in love. After a few scenes, he comes across a cop (Prakash Raj) who urges him to mend his ways.