Jananam belongs to the list of movies that is well-intentioned but not particularly well-made. It deals with the issue of unemployment and even manages to propose a practical solution to how unemployed graduates can deal with the issues facing them. But the issue and its solution are presented in a screenplay that does not do justice to them.

Surya(Arunkumar), an unemployed MBA graduate, lashes out at anyone who insults similar unemployed graduates or speaks ill of their education. The source of his anger is the fate that befell one of his friends who was a very good student but was unable to find a job. But a writer Udayamurthy(Raghuvaran) makes Surya understand that people fighting for a common cause have to provide a united front to achieve something tangible. As a means of uniting the unemployed graduates under one umbrella, Surya creates an association for them. The association becomes the target of the Education minister Muthukaruppan(Ashish Vidyarthi) when it begins fighting for the rights of 4000 teachers he fired arbitrarily.

Jananam has a good idea at its heart. Creating an association of unemployed graduates that can then fight for their rights seems like a practical and plausible solution to deal with many of their problems. The sharp dialogs(from the pen of Balakumaran) uttered by Raghuvaran in support of the idea make sense and lend further credence to it. But the movie has nothing to offer apart from this idea. The scenes that deal with the association are accompanied by an unsatisfactory and incomplete romance, an unconnected, unfunny comedy track, an over-the-top villain and overall, an uneven screenplay that struggles to hold our interest.

While the idea of the association is realistic, a lot of Jananam is rather unrealistic. Chief among these is the villain played by Ashish Vidyarthi. His introduction has him, a State minister, murder a Central minister in broad daylight with no mention of it later in the movie! We also have sequences like Arunkumar and his friends walking easily into the minister's house to beat him up. Naturally, its only the sequences that are realistic that maintain our interest. Arunkumar's flashback about his friend, that led to his current attitude, is quite touching. The movie also proceeds in an unexpected way towards the end. Arunkumar's way of dealing with the minister targetting the association is interesting and more importantly, avoids a bloodbath in the name of a climax.

The director appears to have been convinced that a movie dealing with a serious topic such as unemployment must be lightened with masala elements to make it a commercial success. While the fact might be true(the fate of Kutty at the box-office would be a good example), the masala elements he has added harm rather than help this movie. Vadivelu's unconnected comedy track is a complete misfire, with none of the episodes evoking even a chuckle. An item number with Nandhita is awkwardly inserted. With Priyanka Trivedi apparently abandoning the movie after her marriage, the director atleast has an excuse for the barebones romance. On the other hand, he could have simply excised her character completely from the movie without making an iota of difference.

It is clear that Arunkumar has worked his heart out for the movie. He emotes quite well and his moves in the fight sequences are very impressive. Priyanka Trivedi is barely noticeable except for the outrageous dresses she wears, even when going to the police station to get Arunkumar out on bail! Raghuvaran's measured voice and dialog delivery adds respect to his role of the writer whilee Ashish Vidyarthi smirks his way around as usual. Charlie overacts in the small role he is given and Nasser is wasted in the thankless role of Arunkumar's father.