Sigma Movie Review

Thalapathy & Tamilnadu Chief Minister, Vijay’s son, Jason Sanjay decided to become a film director instead of becoming a hero as expected by most people. When his debut directorial film was announced, people were surprised by his choice of a Telugu hero, Sundeep Kishan, to play the lead role in the film and a Telugu heroine, Faria Abdullah, to play the lead actress role. Going by the unconventional choice, it felt like Jason Sanjay, wants to make an identity for himself without relying on his father’s influence and popularity. Popular production house, Lyca Productions, bankrolled the project, while Thaman S, scored the music for the film. After promoting it well in Tamil and Telugu for the last few weeks, the makers released the film in theatres today. Did, Jason Sanjay, make a successful debut as a director? Did his decision to become a director instead of a hero, turn out to be a good one? Did, Sundeep Kishan, score a blockbuster? After the not-so-successful last few films, did, Lyca Productions, come back on the success track with, Sigma? Let’s figure it out with a detailed analysis.

What is it about?

In a desperate attempt to save the library which is very close to his late mother, Guru(Sundeep Kishan), goes to a gambling centre with two lakhs cash he has with him and ends up losing all of it. He later realises that the gambling table operator cheated him by using foul techniques. He then decides to take revenge on the gambling bar’s management and extort them. What were the challenges faced by Guru while trying to extort money from the gambling bar owners? Who are Sam(Faria Abdullah) and Neil(Raju Sundaram) and how are they related to Guru? Did Guru and his team successfully able to pull off the heist? Forms the rest of the story.

Performances:

Sundeep Kishan appeared effortless as always but there’s not much he can do in a poorly written role. Same goes for all other actors who played crucial roles in the film. Almost everyone gave uninterested and unexciting performances. The blame should rightly go to the poor writing but not the actors. Even the usually reliable, Sampath Raj, looked clueless and out of place.

Technicalities:

Thaman came up with forgettable songs and a loud background score. His work on the film is below par to say the least. It appeared that only the cinematographer, Krishnan Vasant, put in some effort compared to all the other technicians who worked on the film. A few of his visuals and the colour grading used looked good on screen. Apart from this one minor positive, there’s hardly anything to talk about regarding the other technical departments. Sigma. It looked like the producers also realised the fate of the film upfront and did not provide many resources. It appeared the film was made on a very limited budget.

Positives:

1.⁠ ⁠Nothing

Negatives:

1.⁠ ⁠Clueless Storytelling
2.⁠ ⁠Amateurish Direction
3.⁠ ⁠Outdated Writing
4.⁠ ⁠Loud Background Score
5.⁠ ⁠Excessive Slow Motion Shots
6.⁠ ⁠Unnecessary Item Song

Analysis:

Had he wished, Jason Sanjay, could have had the best launch as a hero, compared to any debutant, not just in Tamilnadu but in all of South India. Any star director in the Tamil film industry would have happily directed, Jason Sanjay’s debut film as a hero. But, instead of choosing the easiest route, he decided to become a director. In a generation where many youngsters prefer to use generational wealth and their family’s influence to make it big, Jason Sanjay’s decision to pursue his passion for becoming a director is definitely admirable and inspiring. However, is having passion alone enough to become successful? Does he really have an understanding of the craft he chose to excel in? Does he gain enough knowledge through the directorial course he did to become a feature film director? Was his passion translated into the screen? After watching, Sigma, we as audiences will realise that the answers to all of the above questions are a ‘No’. It was not just surprising but shocking to see a twenty-six-year-old debutant director, coming up with a lifeless, clueless and aimless movie. To call the film outdated is an understatement.

It appeared like Jason Sanjay had grown up watching a lot of Western movies and shows. Especially, he seemed to have been heavily inspired and influenced by Netflix shows like, Money Heist, Lupin, etc. We can see the influence of those shows on him while watching, Sigma. There’s nothing wrong with getting inspired by popular films and shows but one should really understand why a certain show or movie became so popular and has to come up with such engaging storytelling to make a good film or show. What we get to see in Sigma is a mockery in the name of crime, comedy, heist, adventure, thrill and action. The core point of, Sigma, has all the qualities to become a good crime comedy film, if Jason Sanjay, managed to put more effort into the writing. Whatever could go wrong, went wrong for, Sigma, at the writing table itself. Instead of just sticking to the crime comedy genre, he added the elements of heist, adventure and action and ended up making a borefest of a film.

In a film with a two-hour-and-twenty-six-minute runtime, there was not even a single sequence that was written and executed well. It looked as if the entire cast and crew, including Jason Sanjay, were very much uninterested during the making of the film. The drama, the comedy, the action, the characters and even the special(item) song, everything in the film felt outdated. On top of weak writing and poor direction, Thaman made it very difficult to sit through, with his loud and over-the-top background score. While watching the film, it is not your fault if you start to wonder why the makers of the film titled it, Sigma. The protagonist in the film never shows any signs of being a Sigma Male. What’s the point of opting for a title, if you can’t even give a justification for it in the film? Apart from a few well-captured visuals, there’s not much to talk about, and it’s definitely Jason Sanjay’s mistake who is the writer and director of the film.

Overall, with a bad first half and an equally bad second half, Sigma, tests your patience throughout its runtime and it definitely doesn’t deserve a watch not just in theatres but on OTT as well. Yes, pursuing passion is commendable but the first thing, Jason Sanjay, has to do is work as an assistant director for a handful of films for a few years, learn the craft, improve his writing skills and then attempt to make his second film as director. It may sound harsh but he’s not yet ready to direct a film and his lack of command in storytelling and direction, was to be seen in each and every sequence of, Sigma.

Bottom Line – Forgettable

Rating – 1.5/5