Raghupathi Reddy Gunda's directorial is a typical story that has already been tried and tested by several filmmakers in the past.
A poster of the film 'Sodara Sodarimanulara'. (X)
Sodara Sodarimanulara (Telugu)
Actor Kamal Kamaraju’s films usually make a distinct impression on the psyche of a movie buff; for, only stories take centre stage in his works and not the characters.
He is a familiar face for Telugu audiences as an art connoisseur more than an actor. His latest release Sodara Sodarimanulara has raised the curiosity among audience because of his interesting look.
Let’s see how gripping is this tale of suspense crime thriller:
Raju (Kamal Kamaraju) is a cabbie who constantly struggles in his life. The loan repayment for the taxi and added family responsibilities make him further crippled.
His life takes an unpredictable turn when a passenger named Sunny boards his taxi. Upon arriving at the posh yet eerie-looking Zoom Zoom resort in Hyderabad, Raju wouldn’t have expected that the journey would be a life-altering one.
The next day, a young girl named Divya is found dead in his car under mysterious circumstances at Vikarabad forest. Circle inspector Bhaskar (Kalakeya Prabhakar), who takes instructions from Minister (Prithviraj), arrests Raju and tortures him in police custody.
Will Raju prove his innocence for the crime that he didn’t commit? Will he ever unite with his wife Shravani (Aparna Devi) and daughter? The film answers these questions.
Sodara Sodarimanulara is a typical story that has already been tried and tested by several filmmakers in the past. The story of a cab driver, a mysterious murder, how a victim gets falsely implicated in the crime, the influence of power — all the elements are required, of course, to tell a crime thriller on screen.
But what is more essential to tell a gripping tale that makes you sit on the edge of the seat? Director Raghupathi Reddy Gunda should have asked these questions himself before attempting this flick.
The other version, it’s a story of a police officer who forcibly implicates an innocent cabbie in the case after taking orders from an influential minister. In the process, he himself suffers.
People believe the police who, in turn, divulge the details to the media. But the truth is never unwrapped sometimes.
What if such political pressures become a threat to the police whose duty is to uphold the rights of citizens?
Playing an auto driver to now playing a cab driver. #SSM is very close to my heart that speaks of very important relevant issue of social justice to the underprivileged.
WATCH the Intriguing Trailer of #SodaraSodariManulara #SSM
⭐Ing @kamalkamaraju @aparnadeviii pic.twitter.com/BzMMVNGzNO
— kamal kamaraju ~k k (@kamalkamaraju) September 10, 2023
The script has been handled amateurishly. With no proper flow in the narrative, Sodara Sodarimanulara looks disjointed when it slips into a grey and dull mood.
Before you wonder why it has become so artsy, a spasm of melodrama kicks in with Raju’s wife wailing for him.
A poster of director Raghupathi Reddy Gunda’s ‘Sodari Sodaramanulara’. (X)
And sadly, the director couldn’t properly read the meters where the melodrama was heading to.
In a scene, Raju asks his wife if his five-year-old daughter is going to school. In reply, the child repeats what her school staff tells her: “Mee daddy bad ani school nundi pamparu” (They’ve sent me home saying ‘your dad is bad’).
In another sequence, a cell phone is dropped from Raju’s car without an exit. Yes, this is so bizarre.
When Raju bumps into a drunkard on the way, he applies sudden brakes bringing the car to a halt. Divya’s cell phone mysteriously falls at the feet of the drunkard.
It’s a routine story with a lopsided police procedure. The narrative doesn’t really fit in the genre of crime thriller.
The film fails to add any value to actor Kamal Kamaraju or the rest of the cast.
The director tries to showcase the vulnerability of the falsely accused Raju which is appreciable. But when it gets closer to the end, you might wonder how Kamal Kamaraju got tricked into doing this film which seems to be absurdly pointless to qualify as a crime drama.
Aparna Devi is good as Raju’s wife.
Kalakeya Prabhakar looks over-aggressive and less intimidating in most of the scenes.
The music scored by Vishnu Vardhan doesn’t leave any impact.
The cinematography skills are not so creative.
The scenes shot during the night are so inferior in quality. Even the scenes involving the police procedure should’ve been properly dealt with by setting a good ambience.
Sodara Sodarimanulara is marred with silly emotions and pointless logic.
(Views expressed here are personal.)
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