S Shyam Prasad
Every once in a while a film maker tries to take the road less travelled. Every such effort needs to be applauded. And when such attempts hit the mark, they need to be celebrated. Wheelchair Romeo is one such attempt.
The film wraps a meaningful story in entertaining dialogues, engrossing incidents and endearing performances. It hits the right notes in almost every aspect and becomes a wholesome entertainer.
The title and trailer left no doubt about the premise; a love story of a wheelchair bound hero and a blind heroine. The way this is turned into an over two-and-a-half-hour light hearted comedy-drama is testimony to the debutant director’s efforts and conviction.
Without melodrama and adding the right amount of sentimentality the director keeps the narrative engrossing. There are no extraordinary events or incidents or money shots in the film. You have seen them all. But each of them are polished to the need of this story. The film makes you feel good about the world and people. That’s its success.
Two things stand out in Wheelchair Romeo; the dialogues and the performances. Guru Kashyap’s (who unfortunately passed away during the Covid pandemic) dialogues are quotable quotes all the way. It looks like he threw every best line he ever heard, read and created into this film.
While every character gets to speak a great one liner after a good one and one more and one more, there is fatigue setting in for the audience. Yes the dialogues are brilliant, but a little bit of moderation always worked better.
The second is the performances. It is so nice to see good actors like Rangayana Raghu asked to act instead of indulging in buffoonery and Suchendra Prasad given colloquial dialogues to mouth. The director has made the best use of all actors. Ram Chetan, given the job to act out of a wheelchair makes his acting do the walking. There are limited number of characters but each one manages to leave a mark.
Bharath BJ’s music is another noteworthy aspect of the film. Technically it is a well-rounded film with no jarring glitches. Production values are quite adequate.
Wheelchair Romeo is a good film, better intentioned and the best first step for a debutant. Worth all the support.
Film: Wheelchair Romeo Director: Nataraj G Cast: Ram Chetan, Mayuri Kyatari, Rangayana Raghu, Suchendra Prasad, Tabala Nani, Girish Duration: 153 minutes Rating: 3.5/5
