Soyrik Marathi movie review: Experimental!

SOYRIK (Marathi)

Producers: Vijay Shinde, Shashank Shinde and Makrand Mane

Director: Makarand Mane

Cast: Nitish Chavan, Mansi Bhavalkar, Shashank Shinde, Kishor Kadam, Chhaya Kadam, Umesh Jagtap, Rajshri Nikam and Shantanu Gangane

Platform of Release: Theatrical

Rating:

By Jyothi Venkatesh

Like Nagraj Manjule’s film Sairat,  Makarand Mane’s Soyrik is also about two youngsters from different strata of society who  are deeply in love but the so-called priests of high society do not like to let them live in peace. Kudos to Makarand Mane, the lucid narrative style, the style of presentation, impeccable treatment and story development do not bring to mind Sairat or any of the other films with a similar premise.

The story set in a police station in a remote village headed by an inspector (Shashank Shende) and a senior woman constable (Chhaya Kadam), and a few other cops revolves around a young man belonging to the lower caste (Nitin Chavan) and a young woman from an upper caste (Manasi Bhavalkar) who surrender themselves to the cops after they have a court marriage and ask for protection from their own families as they are forced to marry someone else by their respective families. What sets the film apart from the others is that Soyrik is an experimental film made which does not even have a formal script.

It goes to the credit of the director that he has not bothered to even set out to show how the lead couple falls in love or anything about their lives before they land up at the police station and seek protection. While newcomer Nitin Chavan is just about average, Manasi Bhavalkar is extremely promising and what’s more, she also looks real as both breathe life into their roles as a helpless young couple deeply in love. Though initially when the film begins, Shashank Shende doesn’t get to do much in the first half but we get to see a different facet to his later on.

Also read: Gehraiyaan review: Dive straight in to watch this one!

Chhaya Kadam is silent in most of the film and mostly speaks through expressions and succeeds in conveying her inner feelings perfectly. She is superb when her character becomes more prominent. Yogesh Nikam lives his role as the antagonist. Priyadarshini Indalkar and Virat Madake provide some light moments with their supporting roles. Kishor Kadam has been wasted in an insignificant role as the bride’s father while Shantanu Gangane does a good job as the antagonist brother of the bride who sets out to kill her for the sake of the honor of the family.

To sum up, all said and done, Soyrik is an offbeat film, when you set out to compare it to other so called mainstream Marathi films. Though the film lulls you to slumber at times when the proceedings become very predictable as it stretches on as far as its pace is concerned, the film definitely makes you sit up and question a lot of things as far as love and marriage in society today is concerned and hope for positive changes in the society. However, the film may not appeal to the audiences who crave to watch mainstream films.