Lal Jose's 'Solomonte Theneechakal': A celebration of young stars

In the stories of yore, there is a tale about Solomon, the wisest king to have ruled the planet. He is tested by the Queen of Sheba who brings him a bouquet of flowers, one real and the other a look-alike but unreal. The sound of the nearby bees gives him a hint and he wins the test.

In 'Solomonte Theneechakal', a crime thriller, this concept is employed by C I Solomon, played by Joju George, to find the culprit behind a murder.

The movie, however, does not start anywhere near the homicide. It rather starts off by introducing two bubbly women who are as close to each other as sisters. They laugh and love fiercely and strike a chord with the audience.

Vincy Aloysius plays police constable Glyna who is outspoken and judicious. Her best friend and roommate Suja, played by Darshana S Nair, is a traffic cop who hopes to join the local police station one day. The dynamics of the story change after the arrival of a young man, played by Shambu Menon, into their lives.

'Solomonte Theneechakal' is clearly not a film that banks solely on content to sell. Rather it is a movie which aims at celebrating its young crop of promising actors, handpicked by the director himself.

This is not surprising as Lal Jose was one of the main judges of the popular show 'Naayika Naayakan' hosted by Mazhavil Manorama to pick out talents for Mollywood.

Though Vincy has acted in a few movies, including 'Jana Gana Mana', this is Dharshana's first film. Both have it in them to be versatile actors, especially when the script demands them to pull off various emotions. 'Naayika Naayakan' fame Addis Akkara, who plays CI Binu, is also a delight to watch.

Towards the later half of the story, the focus falls on Joju. Johhny Antony also does a fine job as police officer Hashim.

The songs by Vidyasagar, including the catchy number 'Pancharakko', perfectly capture the friendship the girls share.

Lal Jose has a penchant to give several layers to his characters. We saw this in 'Classmates', when he blended wafts of mystery to the young lovers. 

In 'Solomonte Theneechakal' too, this is evident. But somewhere, it doesn't work out as smoothly to leave a lasting impression.

The romantic elements are good but it feels a little artificial, especially when too many songs are used.

The script by P G Prageesh is good, bringing in twists and turns in the story, when least expected. However, it would have been more satisfying had the director chosen to stick to only one genre, without attempting to mix two subjects, while launching his favourite bunch of new actors.