Sigma Reviews: Jason Sanjay's Heist Debut Plays It Safe

Sigma, a heist-action comedy released on Oct. 2, is the directorial debut of Jason Sanjay, and the reviews we found are largely negative. They agree on two points. Sundeep Kishan gives the film sincerity, and the screenplay never delivers the heist it promises.

The film

Jason Sanjay wrote and directed Sigma for Lyca Productions. Sundeep Kishan plays Guru, a struggling library owner and podcaster, according to The Federal's summary. Faria Abdullah, Sampath Raj, Shiv Panditt and Raju Sundaram are in the cast, and Thaman S composed the music. Rediff notes that Jason Sanjay is the 26-year-old son of Vijay, the actor who is now Tamil Nadu's chief minister, and that his first film arrived with high expectations. The film's Wikipedia entry gives a runtime of 146 minutes and a reported budget of Rs 30 crore.

What the reviews say

Rotten Tomatoes lists six reviews with ratings, and their range is narrow. Rediff's Sreeju Sudhakaran gave it 1.5 out of 5 and wrote that the film has the ingredients for a kickass heist thriller but gets lost in lazy writing and bland execution. The Indian Express's Yashaswini Sri also gave 1.5 and wrote that the heist unfolds with the urgency of a PowerPoint presentation. India Today's Janani K gave 2 and wrote that the film lacks conviction, invention and a clear sense of direction. The New Indian Express's Akshay Kumar gave 2.5 and wrote that the film oscillates between goofy crime comedy and a self-serious action vehicle while its characters stay distant.

The Hindu's Sangeetha Devi Dundoo is milder. She writes that the film has occasional flashes of ingenuity, such as the placement of a spy camera and Guru's attempts to stay two steps ahead of the cartel, but that these ideas are sporadic. She says the crime network, with its drug cartel and nightclub that doubles as a gambling den, brings a sense of deja vu. Some of the humour in the early graveyard portions and the pre-interval episode works, she writes, but later it feels forced.

The lead performance

Dundoo says Sundeep Kishan shoulders the film with sincerity and is convincing as a vulnerable underdog, and that Faria Abdullah's character has some agency. She says other actors are integral to the plot but do not stand out. She also writes that she wondered why a debut backed by a recognised production house played safe rather than pushing the boundaries of the genre. The Times of India's M. Suganth, quoted on Wikipedia, makes a similar point, calling the film a missed opportunity given the budget and scale Jason Sanjay works with.

The box office

The Times of India's Oct. 15 box office report says the film had collected Rs 10.12 crore worldwide by the 14th day, according to Sacnilk's figures cited in that report. The film's Wikipedia entry lists Rs 9.35 crore for the box office. These do not match, which is common when trackers use different dates and bases, and we do not know which is closer to the producers' figure.

Why it matters

A star child directing a first film draws attention that the film may not be built to carry. Rediff's headline calls the film a damp squib. The Hindu's review is gentler and says there are flashes of promise. The most useful reading for a cinema-goer is that the cast and the technical work get credit, and the writing does not.

What we could not confirm

We have not seen the film. We could not confirm the exact budget beyond Wikipedia's reported figure of Rs 30 crore, which cites a source we did not open. The Rotten Tomatoes page showed six reviews at the time we read it, so the range may widen. The Times of India figure and the Wikipedia figure disagree. We do not have the producers' own numbers.

Sources

*Cover photo: Bollywood Hungama, Wikimedia Commons, *[*https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sundeep_Kishan_at_60th_South_Filmfare_Awards_2013.jpg*](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sundeep_Kishan_at_60th_South_Filmfare_Awards_2013.jpg)* (CC BY 3.0).*