SOLO - An anthology of human emotions

I had to wait until its’ DVD release to watch this film even though this was in my bucket list since the day it was announced in 2016. The solo reason is Bejoy Nambiar. I became an instant admirer of this guy after watching his debutant feature film ‘Shaitan’, way back in 2011. Shaitan is a cult modern cinematic experience for me that explores the inner demons and dark sides of human beings through a series of events that unfold as a trigger of self-inflicted revulsion in their lives. The film was strong on technical grounds. Absolutely super slow-motion scenes fused with fast paced songs and background scores (still get goose bumps while watching the chase scene that overlaps with ‘Khoya Khoya Chand’), camera being a character, sturdy flash backs & witty narration. I googled about this guy and watched his short film ‘Reflections’ from YouTube and guess what? It features Mohanlal. Reflections was no different from Shaitan. Not on the aspects of storyline or technical grounds but with the making style. A Nambiar’s signature was evident in both these films. Be it David or Wazir, his making style is brilliant.
I read about Solo before its release and even heard from Nambiar’s interviews that it’s an anthology film based on four different elements (Earth, Fire, Wind & Water) with different facets of Lord Shiva. The commonalities in these four segments are many; protagonist has various names of Shiva, each segment opens with an opening shot that signifies the theme (one of the elements) of the segment, each segment has a story that spans over 4 years, each segment deals with twists at the end and relates to an emotion of ‘lost love’. These flavours are evident and anyone could easily pick this up while watching the movie and for me, it’s a big win for the maker who succeeds to connect with the audience. The visuals are good treat for us to watch. In world of Shekhar, water leads the first segment that covers most of the frames. It talks about an intense love story of visually impaired couple with a brilliant making style similar to ‘Reflections’. The closing shot of this segment is DQ & his daughter enjoying the sunset in a beach with a theme music of Kerala ‘vallam’ kali. Second segment, World of Trilok is bit more fast-paced with a gripping screen play and fine performances. Its dark and intense. The third segment, World of Shiva is my favourite one which is based on Fire that talks about a revenge story. The red colour tone throughout this segment holds the essence of fire, burning revenge and subtexts of unexplored lives. The fourth segment World of Rudra depicts the element, Earth. Though there were a lot of scenes that remind us of Manirathnam frames, it scored last amongst the four segment in terms of its screenplay and narration style. DQ… take a bow! You pulled off various emotions; goodness, brutality, heartbreak and compassion so easily with unbelievable performances and screen presence. Not in a single segment you brought the traces from other segments which could have happened with a mere negligence. Govind Menon, you were a big surprise as an actor, kudos!
If you like to watch a film that tells more than ‘just a story’ and in a mood to explore something different, you shouldn’t miss SOLO. (Sounds like a ‘fan’ speaks? well, then it is...J)

Baahubali 2 - Beginning was better than Conclusion.

'Beginning’ was one of the most expensive movies made in India, enthrals audience with its sheer screenplay, stunning visuals and kickass actions sequences. Since then, sequel to ‘Beginning’ was hot star among movie buffs and WKKB became most spoken words for last two weeks. Apparently expectations raised to its peak whilst ‘Conclusion’ ended with an average watch with more predictability and conflicting character attitudes. However, it gives few goosebumps moments which make you feel that movie is gonna be exciting from that point but leaves you disappointed after that. You have seen Kattappa in a loyal stubborn profile in ‘Beginning’ suddenly turns out to be hilarious in first half of ‘Conclusion’, loosing the tempo of character. On similar note, Shivagami the only person who has got the control over Baahubali is being shown as shrewd, intelligent and politically brilliant character but got easily manipulated by Bhallala Devaa and Pinggalathevan in an important segment in screenplay. Having said, the terrific boost happens just 10 minutes before interval and 20 minutes of second half. The scene which Shivagami carries baby and announces kingship before escaping (opening scene of ‘Beginning’) is the ultimate scene which does offer goosebumps. War sequences were innovative (except few disastrous strategies), mind-blowing visuals and above par background score. Though visuals are feast to watch, VFX doesn't match to the standards that people were claiming. The pillars of ‘Conclusion’ are Ramya Krishnan and Prabhas. While Rana Daggubati, Sathyaraj and Anuksha showcased some stellar performances, Nassar was a huge disappointment and irritation.

Finally, the man behind the show S S Rajamouli - You are the real hero, not because of conclusion’s aesthetic sense but for re-writing Indian cinema history with Baahubali that kills the locution ‘One and Only Bollywood’.

Lion - The Charming Champ

You meet a soul in the first 30 minutes of movie and he takes you through the entire film. It's a real life story of a lost boy from India who grew up with his adopted parents in Tasmania, Australia. Movies are all about story telling. They come with various flavours - fiction, real life, sc-fi and so on.. Lion is the story from a man's life chapter who spent his initial five years in India under the tough, indigence life. Later he grew up in Australia, with memories of his lost mother, brother & sister. Years later, he decides to go find his lost mother and siblings and you become a part of his journey both emotional & heart-rending. On paper this is a simple story, but when you travel with this soul throughout his journey, it's intense and very much grounded. This is a true emotion that everyone could relate to.
Based on real Saroo Brierley's memoir "A Long Way Home", the true story of his own where he imagines the agony & pain of his mom and brother they went through in search of missing boy, the script (Luke Davies) itself stood as a backbone of this movie. With no background of directing a full length feature film, Garth Davis ensured the compassion and concerns of Saroo portrayed in best possible narrative style. The good part is is that as I mentioned at the beginning, you feel like being a part of Saroo's journey. To add on to the script and narration, cinematography & background score were above the par.
There was a shot in the movie where young Saroo was standing alone on the Howrah Bridge in the tungsten background which was incredible. The heavy traffic bridge was shut down by the crew in order to film a single scene and this was the first time the bridge had ever been closed to public. There was another scene from the movie where A.R. Rahman song "Urvasi" is featured and I'm sure that's the goosebumps moment for every Indian !.
Young Sunny Pawar is the show stealer of the movie and deserves ton of recognition for handling emotional ride for almost first half of the movie. Dev Patel became obsessed with withdrawn & memory haunted Saroo and definitely will be the conversation among award circles (after slumdog millionaire). Nichole Kidman as an adopted mother (as in her real life) showcased incredible performance especially in the scene when she explains why she adopted him when she could have had her own child.
Truely, Lion is one of the best movies I watched recently and personally it woke me up from the hibernation mode of not watching many movies due to x,y,z reasons. A must watch for all :)