Villain:Mohanlal is the only saving grace

As an ardent fan of thriller movies, I really wanted this to work and Mohanlal's stylish avatar and posters added to it. The plot regarding the serial killings was also interesting. But all goes down the drain as director B Unnikrishnan has yet again spoiled a golden chance of making a worthwhile movie

Unnikrishnan has tried to deliver a slow burning emotional thriller that stays mediocre at best as opposed to the trailers which promised a full fledged investigative thriller.The movie deserves some praise as an emotional movie but when coming to the thriller part, it fails miserably. The story consists of the usual proceedings that we have seen in the recent police thrillers. The movie starts with a triple murder case followed by the introduction of the protagonist, Matthew Manjooran who is preparing for voluntary retirement. Matthew is mentally damaged after a personal tragedy involving his family. As usual, the other officers are clueless about the murder case, which makes one wonder how did they end up in police department and want to rope in Matthew for solving the case. Matthew, who is least interested in solving another case is emotionally persuaded(or more like it) by his superior officer. Then, the investigation starts by Matthew who starts putting in all the pieces to track the killers. Murders happen again nd leaves a serial killing pattern. In parallel, Matthew's flashback sequences about his family life is shown. Then, towards the end of the first half we are introduced to the antagonists and the second half deals with their justification for the murders and Matthew's encounter with them.

While that’s about the story, first half is comparatively better with the investigation and Matthew's personal life eventhough we have seen the same sequences in movies of the past and even in Unnikrishnan's Grandmaster. Some sequences have turned out well though with Mohanlal's subtle performance. The interval block is the worst in recent times. Second half is also devoid of the thrill it’s supposed to offer and ends with a lackluster climax that is predictable which leaves the audience wanting for more.

The only thing that saves the movie from being a complete mess is Mohanlal. His portrayal of Manjooran as the sharp cop and as a man who lost everything in his life was mesmerizing. The hospital scene proves yet again that he is the complete actor. Apart from that, no one makes much impact. The need for a huge star cast was the biggest mystery of the movie. The much hyped Vishal and hansika did not have anything much to perform. Those roles could have easily been handled by the local actors.

The 8k factor was also another much hyped feature of the movie. The technical finesse seemed striking in some scenes but overall not worth the hype it created. The editor could have better as certain scenes went stretched particularly in the second half and climax.

The absence of a powerful background score was also evident throughout the movie. Sushin shyam has disappointed big time here. Only one song which was present in the movie was okay.The theme in the end was good and could have been used somewhere in the movie.

The screenplay and direction are the real villains of the film and only Unnikrishnan can be hold responsible for that. Some of the scenes were a rehash from his own movies. Here he seemed to provide some emotional content compared to his old racy thriller movies, It just didn't work out due to poor writing that provides neither thrills nor class baring few scenes. But the sad fact is the plot had substance for an enthralling thriller flick which could have worked wonders in the hands of an excellent director.For the audience, Villain can be watched for Mohanlal and Mohanlal alone. The fans don’t have much scenes to celebrate but can view the complete actor in form.

Solo:A mixed Bag

Anthology movies are hard to execute effectively due to time constraints.Bijoy Nambiar deserves a kudos for holding the viewer's attention almost towards the end.Liked his Shaitan so much that all his other felt underwhelming.When Dulquer joins hands with Bijoy Nambiar,expectations are nothing bit sky high.Well its a mixed bag in case of Solo.Certain things worked greatly for the film while others backfired.As the promos suggested,there are 4 stories that are themed into 4 elements-Water,wind,fire and earth.

Coming to the first one,we have a love story between a stammerer and a blind girl.This part has been a bit cheesy and uneven at the beginning.Even Dulquer was not fully convincing as a stammering person.Also the college setup felt pretty awkward at times.Dhansika gave a good performance as the heroine.Their combo scenes went fine.Rest of the cast didn't have much to do even though Soubin evoked some laughter.The emotional content at the end was pretty moving and is the soul of this portion.As the element of this story is water,its presence was evident in many of the frames.DOP and music were top notch here especially the BGM which was featured in the promos and the song by Agam.Considering the whole,World of shekhar can be considered above average and nevertheless was a good start.

Next on the lot is World of Trilok.The element is wind here and its indicated here and there.Neatly edited and slickly dircted,this is the best one in the film.Even though the role was a variation of his role in Theevram, Dulquer handled it very well.World of Trilok belongs to dulquer alone and none of the cast made much impact.

World of Siva can be termed somewhat as a gangster flick where fire is the element.Dulquer has nailed it as Siva with subtle body language and expressions.Personally,his best performance is in this segment.He only mouths few dialogues but portrays immense energy as a rogue.The songs aalayal thara venam by masala coffee is used in the introduction and fits in perfectly.However,Aigiri nandini was excellent during the shootout sequences.The main problem here is the weak characteriation of the heroine and the frames get blurred in some portions which was annoying.World of Siva ends up as a good one baring few hiccups.

The final segment World of Rudra which features Earth as the element is where things go wrong for the film.The ending was puzzling since the dialogues were so casually written that the audience could not recognize if the surprise element was serious because it was unintentionally funny.Dulquer and Neha made a cute pair and the rashomon song were the saving grace here.Dubbing also faultered with dino morea mouthing malayalam dialogues was strange.World of Rudra is the weakest of the four and also placing it as the last hampered the overall mood of the flick.Having a better ending would have worked wonders for the segment and for the film.

Bijoy had almost striked gold in Solo but the weak ending has proved spoilsport for the whole movie.However,Solo is worth looking at as an experimental flick.We also get to see Dulquer in his recent best in various avatars but its devoid of what fans aspire of him.So,be warned.