Jacobinte Swargarajyam - A Review

This review has been a long time coming. I may sound a little overexcited or juvenile or childish. I am not going to look at the logistics of it all (the time he took to generate the cash, the ways, the fact that he drove through all districts in Dubai to finally get to the airport) - currently, none of that is any of my concern. And yes, I know some people think it's corny - but Malayalis in Dubai can really be that corny. That Onam celebration montage was quite accurate!

One of my initial thoughts during the movie was that this was going to be one of those boys' clubs movies. Where the dad and the son are solving problems, the mother is just what the mother figure usually portrays in movies.

Oh, but what a badass was Shirley Jacob! What a beautiful, powerful and inspiring character. Here, it's not just the dads who run the family - mothers do too.

I will instead talk about just two scenes, that I will remember for a very long time - mostly because it doesn't require remembering.

Stuff of Dreams

When we drive through Sheikh Zayed Road, I always make it a point to look up, to look outside - be it night or day. I might be reading, or napping or chatting with someone on the phone. But when we are in the tunnel leading up to that street, I look up. Because for me, that street is magic - starting from the Trade Center, which unbelievably used to be the tallest building in Dubai at one point of time. That street represents dreams coming through. It's even more mesmerizing, when you can remember it at a time when much of the glass buildings were absent. I look at that street and I feel inspired to dream. I am also reminded of all the hard work, of all the blood and sweat that's gone into making it.

 So imagine my pleasant shock at seeing my exact sentiments being portrayed so beautifully by Vineeth Sreenivasan. All the wonder and amazement that comes across - that's not movie magic, that's real life. So thanks for that.

The second scene which actually came before, in the beginning of the film, was Jacob and his son climbing a big sand dune to look out into the desert. Jacob tells his son - this is what Dubai once was. It takes a vision to see skyscrapers rise out of the desert sand. Yes - it's all oil money and I don't see why that's a bad thing. Dubai is one of the best examples of how that money has been used to build something bigger than itself.

Forget everything else about the movie that you didn't like. You might think it's unrealistic - all those dialogues about Dubai, about the Malayalis who have toiled so hard for so long (including my parents and my grandfather) to build this beautiful city. I have only one thing to let you know - no truer lines have been spoken in a Vineeth Sreenivasan movie.


I have found that NRI kids are portrayed unfairly. I know what you're thinking - boohoo, it's not a big deal. True, but it still is nice when a person like me or my sister or the friends I grew up with are shown instead of the one-dimensional, spoilt brats.

In JSR, we have a hard-working elder brother, a musician younger brother who messes up and makes up for it, a sister who studies hard and goes to India to study medicine and a genius youngest brother - and that is just very pleasing to watch.

The film closes with VS saying the film is for his friend - Gregory Jacob - who I now tremendously respect. He's a role model. But somehow, it felt like he was saying this film is for all the Malayalis who have worked so hard - with their families, away from their families to bring them so much happiness - like my parents.

In closing, I would like to point out some parallels my mother and I noticed while watching the movie (and my sister who saw it before us in India):

1. Their Mercedes Benz number was 86542 - we had a car for 11 years with the number 65642 (only the first digit is different)
2. Their car before the Benz was an old Corolla. Guess what car it is that we had for 11 years? A Corolla of course!
3. Jacob's only daughter is called Ammu. Guess what I'm called at home?
4. The school the little brother studies in is Our Own English High School, Sharjah. My sister and I studied in the Dubai school. But Our Own is Our Own - Lead Kindly Light Sharjah Indian School. A friend was kind enough to point out the difference.
5. The area they live in at the beginning of the movie - considering the terrace the dad and son sit in to drink wine - it was near where we lived for 15 years (after which we moved to Abu Dhabi 4 years back)
6. When Jerry says his kingdom of heaven is in Sharjah, a few metres away from the Corniche, my heart leapt. The other day, my parents and I drove through that area. We used to live in a building that would face the Corniche and the dockyard. I was a baby and my mom would get me to eat by telling me I could go on the ships after we were done.

Great Performances by:

1. Renji Panicker and Lakshmy Ramakrishnan as the Parental Unit
2. The kids - aka - Nivin Pauly, Sreenath Bhasi (who is really good at playing the effortlessly cool and nonchalant), Aima Sebastain and Stacen 
3. Beautiful music by Shaan Rahman. You feel the magic through his music - especially the song "Ee Shishirakalam" which plays as the end credits roll. You walk out of the theater with a smile on your face.
4. Loved the Director's cameo
5. Ashwin Kumar who comes across as the villain - but anyone would be that desperate in such a situation 
6. Special shout-out to that cover of Unnikale Oru Kadha Parayam. Lucky are those people who were actually at Filli cafe to be there for that.

So Jacob's Kingdom of Heaven is my Kingdom of Heaven, my sister's Kingdom of Heaven - because of family, because of all the sacrifices and hard work put in by my parents like many other people here in the United Arab Emirates. Dreams come true here, not because it's a fantasy - but because people work hard here, for their children's future - as I hope to do one day as well.