Shyloo - Movie Review

S Narayan's Shyloo is a remake of Tamil superhit film Mynaa. The romantic drama has a strong subject backed with some excellent performances by Ganesh, Bhama and Rangarayana Raghu. Though, the slow narration might bore at times, the beautiful locations and a few songs give you the pleasure ride.

Having lost his mother at his very young age, Manja (Ganesh) finds his love in Shyloo (Bhama) - who was being thrown out of her house along with her mother Muniyamma - when he sees her for the first time. The young and illiterate lad gives his helping hand for the poor family and strives hard to make his sweetheart happy. He takes responsibility of her schooling and bares all the expenses of them. As the times passes by their love grows and her mother remains unaware of their love.

However, the fate has something unexpected for the young couple when they reach adolescence, as Muniyamma turns wicked minded and arranges her daughter's marriage with another boy. From here, the story takes deviation after he attacks Muniyamma and finds himself in a jail. During this period, she arranges her daughter"s marriage. On the other end, Manja, who was serving 30-day sentence, escapes from the jail. What happens next should be seen on-screen.

The storyline of Shyloo is intense and touching. It is a journey of love that traverses like a Shakespeare's play. The movie is natural and it has all flavours of hill-side villages. But the movie is not engaging at parts and the slow narration might affect it to large extent. Adding to that, the script has not been modified to suit the native audience rather the director has wished not to harm the original essence.

Ganesh will be seen in an unusual role. He impresses the audience with his unglamorous outfits, speaking in village dialect, and with his performances during emotional and love scenes. He emotes best of his expressions for the character of a country man. But the role could have been tailor-made for Duniya Vijay. However, his co-star Bhama lives up to the audience expectations. She has emoted well and she is the perfect choice. Rangarayana Raghu entertains you in his usual style. Suchindra Prasad, Shobha and others have played their part well.

In the technical front, Jassie Gift has gifted three good songs for the film. The title track, 'Pada pada...' and 'O jeevave...' are the picks. JS Wali's cinematography is wonderful but editing by KR Lingaraju is not appreciable. He could have mercilessly chopped some of the scenes, which are not important, to reduce the length of the movie. Coming to S Narayan, his work is not up to the mark. His screenplay is not praiseworthy. The slow proceedings might play spoilsport. In the second half, the movie runs as slow as a passenger train.

Verdict: Putting aside the slow narration factor, Shyloo is a heart-wrenching tale. The absence of regular masala ingredients might not go well with all section of audience. Nonetheless, it is neat and can be watched with your family.

Cast: Ganesh, Bhama, Rangarayana Raghu, Suchindra Prasad and others.
Director: S Narayan
Music: Jassie Gift
Cinematography: JS Wali
Released on: December 9