Considering the bigger budgets that are available today and the advancements that have been made in special effects, fantasy films from a couple of decades ago offer an enormous opportunity to be remade since graphics are a mainstay of such films. The original Jaganmohini was one such fantasy film but the remake ends up as a case of lost opportunity. With a silly story and poor graphics, it offers nothing for a viewer who is looking for something more than a chance to ogle at Namitha.

Jaganmohini(Namitha) is a pearl-diver who lives on the island of Pachai Theevu. Jagadalaprathaban(Raja), the prince of Sanga Theevu, arrives on the island to nab Alaikkallan, a thief and pirate. He succeeds in unmasking and catching the thief and also falls in love with Jaganmohini. But Azhagu Nachiar(Nila) is waiting for him back hom with dreams of wedding him and his mom isn't too happy to hear about his romance. Meanwhile Sidhar(Kota Srinivasa Rao), who is after the Nagajothi to accumulate infinite power, tries to use the situation to his advantage.

While one doesn't expect any realism or even credibility in a fantasy movie, the plot points need to have some believability for the viewers to become interested in the story. That never happens here. The condition for Kota to obtain the Nagajothi, which drives the entire movie, is silly and so we have no interest in the plans he hatches to meet that condition. Namitha's storyline of a wronged woman trying to get revenge is also too simple and uncomplicated and is made up of a feeble romance. So the storylines are little more than clotheslines to hang the graphics-laden scenes on.

Going by the standard of graphics employed, Jaganmohini is apparently made for those viewers who miss Rama Narayanan's devotional movies that were so popular a few years ago. The story lends itself well to special effects and graphics and the film is packed with them but all the instances look incredibly bad and cheap. Whether its the watery figure that thunders into town or the enraged tree or the huge spider that Kota turns himself into, the results on screen are shockingly amateurish. The film doesn't shy away from violence as we get decapitations and a very bloody monster but they are so shoddily realized that we end up laughing instead of having the visceral reaction that films like Arundhati evoked.

Namitha obviously wasn't picked for her acting skills. She looks Amazonian and those skimpy clothes only serve to highlight her barrel-like figure. Raja makes a wimpy prince and looks puny next to Namitha when he is romancing her. Nila recently announced that she is quitting films and Jaganmohini might've been one of the reasons why. It is a half-baked character that is left to mope most of the time. Kota Srinivasa Rao has some fun going over-the-top as the magician while Vadivelu repeats his usual shtick. Ilaiyaraja's songs remind us of his numbers from the 80s.