''Jackson Durai'' () is a 2016 Tamil-language

horror comedy Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary, television, and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as able to be categorized under three types: "black comedy, parody and spo ...

film based on the theme in the classic goth story,

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is a gothic story by American author Washington Irving, contained in his collection of 34 essays and short stories titled '' The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.'' Written while Irving was living abroad in Bir ...

, the movie is written and directed by Dharani Dharan, starring

Sathyaraj Rangaraj Subbiah (born 3 October 1954), professionally known as Sathyaraj, is an Indian actor, producer, director and a media personality who has predominantly appeares in Tamil cinema and Telugu Cinema. His 240 films also include works in Mala ...

Sibiraj Sibi Sathyaraj (also credited as Sibiraj) is an Indian actor working in the Tamil film industry. He is the son of actor Sathyaraj. Early life and education Sibi did his schooling in Sherwood Hall Senior Secondary School and Don Bosco Matricu ...

, and Bindu Madhavi in the leading roles, while Karunakaran,

Rajendran A. Rajendran,(born 1 June 1957) credited as Motta Rajendran or ''Naan Kadavul'' Rajendran, is an Indian stunt double and actor working mainly in Tamil cinema. He debuted in 2003 with the Tamil film '' Pithamagan'' and has worked as a stunt doub ...

, and

Yogi Babu Yogi Babu (born 22 July 1985) is an Indian actor and comedian, who appears in Tamil films. A three time Ananda Vikatan Cinema Award winner, he performed in ''Aandavan Kattalai'' (2016), '' Kolamavu Kokila'' (2018) and '' Pariyerum Perumal'' ( ...

play supporting roles. Featuring music composed by

Siddharth Vipin Siddharth Vipin is an Indian composer, who mainly produces film scores and soundtracks in the Tamil film industry. He recently married Shriya Mohandas who is an advocate. Early life Siddharth was born in Salem,Tamil Nadu. Finished his schoolin ...

and editing by

Vivek Harshan Vivek Harshan (born 28 May 1981) is a National Film Awards winning Indian film editor who works predominantly in Malayalam and Tamil films. He has frequently collaborated with Amal Neerad since the beginning of his career. '' Big B'', ''Iyobin ...

, the film released on 1 July 2016. The film was dubbed and released in Telugu as ''Dora'' The film was dubbed in Hindi as ''Jackson The Paying Guest''.

Plot

Sub-Inspector Sathya (

) is sent to Aynpuram, a village in which a large bungalow from British times is claimed to be haunted by a ghost called Jackson (Zachary Coffin) according to the villagers. Sathya's mission is to prove that there are no ghosts in the village. Will he succeed in proving it or not forms the rest of the story.

Cast

as Durai *

as Sub-Inspector Sathya * Bindu Madhavi as Viji * Karunakaran as Veera *

as Bradlee (Suruli) *

as Mani * Zachary Coffin as Jackson * Aanchal Singh as Amy Jackson *

Mahanadi Shankar Mahanadi Shankar is an Indian stage, film and television actor, who has appeared in Tamil language films and serials as supporting actor and negative roles. He has appeared in films including '' Mahanadi'' (1994), '' Baashha'' (1995), ''Ratchag ...

Shanmugasundaram Shanmugasundaram was an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil films. He began his career as an actor by starring in '' Ratha Thilagam'' (1963) and '' Karnan'' (1964), and continued his career for seven decades. He is also a dubbing artist. He ...

* Neha Menon as Durai's Sister * Shan * TSR * Vijay Senathipathi

Production

Sri Green Productions agreed to finance Dharani Dharan's second directorial venture after ''

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

'' (2014), and signed on actors

and Bindu Madhavi to appear in a horror film. The film began production in May 2015, and was described to be a thriller set in the 1940s with

and American actor Zachary signed on for pivotal roles. Dharani Dharan revealed that the film would be completed by October 2015, at a cost of .

Soundtrack

Soundtrack was composed by Siddharth Vipin and lyrics written by Dharani Dharan, Aravind Devaraj and

Mohan Rajan Mohan Rajan is an Indian lyricist working on Tamil language films. Career Hailing from Valayapatti near Tiruchirappalli, Mohan Rajan arrived in Chennai in 2001, hoping to become a lyricist in the Tamil film industry. However, he failed to get ...

. Behindwoods rated the album 2 out of 5 calling it "frivolous album which is high on freshness." *"Motorbike" -

Anthony Daasan Anthony Dasan is an Indian folk singer, who is currently working in the Tamil film industry. He is known for contributing a powerful voice to fusions of Tamil-folk, country, jazz, electronica and rock styles. Before this phase of playback sing ...

*"Jackson Durai" -

Gana Bala Bala Murugan, better known by his stage name Gana Bala is an Indian playback singer in Tamil cinema. He rose to prominence after rendering the songs 'Aadi Pona Aavani' and 'Nadukadalula Kappala' from the soundtrack of '' Attakathi''. He has pre ...

*"Yethetho" -

Chinmayi Chinmayi Sripaada is an Indian playback singer, working mainly for the South Indian film industry. She is also a voice actor, television presenter, radio jockey, and an entrepreneur. She is the founder and CEO of a translation services company ...

, Karthik

Release

The satellite rights of the film were sold to Sun TV. Digital rights Sold to Sun NXT and many other online platforms

Reception

Baradwaj Rangan of ''Hindu'' wrote "Jackson Durai only sounds like a horror comedy — the plot is more intricate, it wants to do more than just make you laugh, scream. It actually wants to tell some kind of story, a ''

Groundhog Day Groundhog Day ( pdc, Grund'sau dåk, , , ; Nova Scotia: Daks Day) is a popular North American tradition observed in the United States and Canada on February 2. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerges f ...

''-like story that keeps looping back on itself, each iteration the opportunity for a change." ''Sify'' wrote "Dharani Dharan’s ideology of mixing fantasy, horror and spoof is laudable but he hasn’t got the right screenplay. Although all the actors are capable of pulling off the characters given to them, the aimless screenplay doesn’t offer big entertainment." ''Behindwoods'' wrote "Overall the director seems to have tried his best at giving us an entertaining feature but instead cluelessly heads in a direction which lacks a sense of purpose. He handles a texture that is not definite and weaves a rather loose structure around it." ''Times of India'' wrote "The film is a horror comedy, a genre that is very much the trend today, and going by the director's previous film, you expect at least a competently made film that keeps us entertained. But the only thing that we have in store is disappointment." ''Top10cinema'' wrote "Definitely, a different horror tale, but lacks engagement."

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 4642386 2016 films Films scored by Siddharth Vipin 2010s Tamil-language films Indian comedy horror films Films set in the 1940s Films set in the British Raj