I think I was watching Jack Hawkins when I last saw journalists painted in such a flattering light as in the Tamil film Ko.
Yes, our hero here is a photographer at a national newspaper who has the happy knack of being at the right place at the right time.
He helps to nail villains and even helps change the politics of the country by uncovering corruption and other misdeeds of those in high places.
Jeera plays the all-action-hero lensman and, unsurprisingly, I developed a bit of a soft spot for him.
Director Anand KV sparks the film into life from the opening shots of a bank raid where the body count is high.
That sets the tone for a fast-tempo movie where brutality is never far from the screen.
But while only Indian people can speak to the realism of the way the political system is represented I have to say I was impressed in the detail of the newspaper operation.
Too often movies, like the recent UK release Blitz, just don't understand the nuts and bolts of the way a paper is run.
Occasionally, Ko slips into the fanciful but, by and large, it is a pretty reasonable stab at the highs and lows of the profession I've been in for nearly 30 years.
The management and decision-making structures are authentic as is the deference to the libel laws.
If that makes Ko sound boring, it isn't. Jeera's character, while always at the centre of the action, is also faced with some tough moral decisions - some which are the difference between life and death.
Of course, this is India, so the paper's chief investigative reporter is a raven-headed beauty and our two hacks are occasionally seen indulging in a bit of singing in the sunset (I am just giggling at the prospect of a photographer and reporter from the Derby Telegraph doing that).
I'm not quite sure that luvvy duvvy music fits in with political corruption, shoot-outs and bomb blasts but Ko provides them all the same.
At well over two hours, Ko is too long and its music jars but the storyline is powerful and its characters, although slightly over-the-top, are believable.
I really enjoyed it and will give it 8/10.
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