Jai Bhim is a Tamil-language film about the caste divide in India and is inspired by a true incident that happened in 1993. It begins with the police checking the surnames of detainees to determine who should be released. Only inmates from the upper and middle castes get their freedom. Rajakannu (K. Manikandan) and Senggeni (Lijomol Jose) are a couple from the Irula tribe who work to control rat infestation and catch venomous snakes in the fields of upper-caste men. The police blame them of theft and brutally beat them both.
Rather than conducting a proper investigation, the police attempt to prove their case the usual way: they mercilessly beat up the prisoners and then claim that they have escaped from custody.
The director T. J. Gnanavel said about the torture scenes: “The atrocities faced in real life by the tribals, especially Irulars, who are lodged in prisons to prove unproved cases, are far worse compared with what was shown in the movie.”
The film was made with a limited budget. Except for a huge court set, the production cost for it was almost minimal.
An Indian actor and producer, Saravanan Sivakumar, who is known by his stage name Suriya, is well known for his work in Tamil cinema. In addition to producing Jai Bhim, he plays the part of Chandru, an advocate who is dedicated to fighting for the oppressed. Suriya was able to sign an exclusive deal with Amazon Prime to provide Jai Bhim and multiple films from his production house 2D Entertainments.
Suriya’s awards include three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, four Filmfare Awards South, two Edison Awards, a Cinema Express Award, a CineMAA Award and a Vijay Award. Based on the earnings of Indian celebrities, Suriya has been included in the Forbes India Celebrity 100 list six times.
Jai Bhim is currently the highest user-rated film on IMDb with a score of 9.6. It surpassed the ratings of The Shawshank Redemption and The Godfather.