'Solo Brathuke So Better' is now playing in theatres in the Telugu States. The film was scheduled to release on May 1. It has released for Christmas and is the first major Telugu film to release in a post-lockdown phase. We hereby present its review:
Story
The single-point agenda of Virat (Sai Dharam Tej) is to enlighten youngsters about the demerits of marriage. As far as he is concerned, marriage is a death sentence. Thousands of youngsters and his friends (played by Satya and Sudarshan) have bought into his so-called "ideology". But Virat soon realizes that life is not a breeze and that having a soulmate is a must. Then enters Amrutha (Nabha Natesh), who is sold on the idea of remaining unmarried for life. There arises a conflict involving quite a few other characters as well.
Performances
For his own good, Sai Tej should have tried to do comedy instead of feigning seriousness all through. Nabha Natesh is okayish. She makes an entry into the story at the interval.
Satya goes overboard, while Vennela Kishore is endearing. Rao Ramesh is decent as the supportive uncle. Rajendra Prasad is at his boring self. Ajay is good in a negative role.
Technical aspects
Right from the beginning, Thaman's songs have been overrated. The 'No Pelli' song was hyped up, in no small measure due to Rana Daggubati and Varun Tej doing it. Venkat C Dileep's cinematography is way too dull.
Analysis
The film's story seems to take place in a parallel world. Thousands of youngsters demanding justice just because someone has decided to get married feels surreal. 'SBSB' has a pronounced male gaze, where men are shown to fall into depression after they get married and wives are either ugly or frustrating. Just to make it look artificially balanced, several women are shown to be fans of the hero's 'No Pelli' philosophy.
The director clearly intended to evoke comedy but he asked the music director and his actors to make things look serious. It's a dichotomy. The film oversells the hero, who is shown to tell his colleagues on the first day of his job to romance with their jobs, only to receive laurels as if he has espoused a new ideology. From fat-shaming to the male lead behaving as if he is a guardian of his friends, this film is terrible.
The film has a hero who gets angry when his friends confess to him that they want to get married. It's as if a Naxalite has just told his wing leader that he wants to surrender before the police. There is a sprinkling of absurd references to 'Kushi', 'Titanic' and 'Toli Prema', too.
By the time the film introduces a villain, it gets too tiresome. People fall for the hero's laughable ideology and fall in love just like that. 'SBSB' has a skin-deep love track where the heroine can be changed like you use a switch to turn on the light. It's that simple and instant.
Even the likes of Hyper Aadhi are so silly. Using R Narayana Murthy's intervention in the form of a TV interview doesn't wash.
Closing Remarks
'Solo Brathuke So Better' has got terrific support from the film industry. The whole industry is going to see how much it will earn at the box-office. Sri Venkateswara Cine Chitra LLP's BVSN Prasad, distributors and exhibitors will also watch out for its collections and whether it can rake in figures for two or three weeks. There is going to be no major direct release till Sankranthi. Watch it with low expectations.
