Solo review: "Interesting anthology that hits as well as misses!!!"

It's been a rather eventful week for Indian sports with our nation playing hosts to the FIFA under 17 World Cup. Though our boys might have lost, they played admirably against Colombia & to a certain extent against US as well. Just as eagerly awaited was Dulquer's "Solo" which released to much fanfare on Friday. The hype was understandable as the trailer was catchy & the music was already creating waves in the charts. But will Bejoy Nambiar's unique brand of film making appeal to the masses???

The film is a combination of four segments which focuses on the elements of water, air, fire & earth and how each protagonist named after different names of Lord Shiva is a representation of it. The first segment was the World of Shekhar (water) which focused on the relationship between the long haired stammerer Shekhar & the beautiful yet blind Radhika (Dhansika). This was followed by the World of Trilok (air), a veterinary surgeon by profession who loses his wife in an accident. The third segment was the World of Shiva (fire), a cold blooded gangster who goes on the rampage after his father gets killed by a Mumbai based crime lord. The last segment was the World of Rudra (earth) where he dons the role of an army officer who is madly in love with Akshara (Neha Sharma), the daughter of a Brigadier much against the wishes of both the parents. 

The craftsman behind this interesting project is Bejoy Nambiar who had given us movies like "David", "Shaitan" etc in the past. Scripted by himself, there is no doubt that it is a unique anthology that impresses for large parts. As far as the story is concerned, all the segments felt fine though the climax in the last part came across as rather unintentionally hilarious. Personally, I felt the first segment was the best & it imparted the feel of a Mani Ratnam movie. When it comes to the technical aspects, the visuals were absolutely brilliant for which Girish Gangadharan, Madhu Neelakandan & Sejal Shah deserves praise. Even the music which was the collaboration of a host of musicians was equally impressive.

It was a movie that gave ample opportunity to Dulquer to showcase his talent. But was he able to do justice to it? Well his limitations was pretty much evident when he essayed the role of Shekhar as he didnt look convincing with the stammer. He absolutely rocked as Trilok & Shiva while Rudra was kinda average. As far as the female leads are concerned, Dhaniska was fantastic along with Sruthi Hariharan while Neha Sharma & Arthi Venkatesh were just about ok. There were a host of other characters as well such as Suhasini, Nassar, Ann Augustine & they have done their brief roles aptly.

Verdict: Despite having the biggest ever Malayalam release having opened at around 225 screens, it didnt quite have the bombastic initial as expected. Being an experimental type of movie, it wont quite appeal to the masses & to make matters worse, the Rudra segment understandably didnt go down well with most of the audience. However, the other segments has been crafted well & is well worth a watch. In short, do check it out!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Regards...Ben