Ariesplex SL Audi 1 Below 10 people TODAY When you watch an anthology movie, as a moviegoer you will definitely search for some patterns or connections between the segments. Me too, out of sheer curiousity, made some futile attempts for connecting Shekhar, Trilok, Siva and Rudra- the four segments of Bejoy nambiar’s much anticipated bilingual movie ‘Solo’ starring Dulquer Salman in lead. Much based on Shivapurana and the concept of Shiva and four elements (water,wind,fire,earth), Solo is undoubtedly a daring attempt in MTown. However the usual Bejoy Nambiar charm is missing in Solo. Though Solo follows Bejoys’ former films which were also visually conceived and music as an integral part of storytelling, execution misfires here completely. On the first part, Shekhar who has stammering problem come across a blind girl,Radhika. In second part, Trilok Menon, a vetenary doctor helps a road accident victim from death. The story of Shiva, a gangster, is told in third part. While the fourth segment deals with Rudra Ramachandran, a military officer who falls in love with a brigadier’s daughter. Apart from ‘Shiva’ connection and the above mentioned ‘elements’ factor, Solo deals with almost all human emotions like Love, Grief, Revenge,Lust,Anger, which I found interesting.Music is another backbone of movie, enhancing the overall movie experience. Dulquer Salman is the best thing about the movie. I would say, Solo is dulquer’s magnum opus to date, despite his performance is overshadowed by movie’s execution. All the supporting cast did their job well. However dubbing of actresses irritated me. There was some sort of artificiality in dialogue rendering which was a turn-off to me in emotionally-overwhelming scenes. Editing too, was below par. There were a lot of unwanted scenes in Solo, which could have been trimmed off, especially in Shekhar and Rudra segments. Bejoys’ direction failed to impress in Solo. ‘Aloneness’, the basic idea of Solo (well rooted in Shiva myths), failed to connect with the audience. There were a lot of moments in Solo, where I was left wondered what exactly is happening on screen! Be it the non linear story telling in Shekhar, which was an irritation to watch, nor the heavily criticised climax, which despite having some novel element ended up as unintentionally funny. Solo can be watched only once for its rich production values, technical brilliance and dulquers’ performance. Apart from that, there is nothing impressive about this average affair. Verdict: 2.5/5 “A WASTED OPPORTUNITY” NB: Oru kamukanum rudrayude gathikedu undavale!!!
