Fly Away Solo is divided into two. There is Devi, a young woman who is caught in the act of having sex in a hotel (a definite no-no in prude Indian society) and becomes the victim of blackmail. And there is Deepak, a young untouchable who is in love with a girl from a higher caste. A critical look at two archaic social conventions.

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This movie by Indian director Neeraj Ghaywan (Ugly) is a French-Indian coproduction, which shows onscreen. The soundtrack is by the composer of the Chorus and its length is relatively short for an Indian movie. Could this be why the movie is relatively disappointing? Is it possible to make an Indian film without resorting to Bollywood clichés? The answer is yes, and other movies have proven it. But this is not one of them. The two narratives avoid each other throughout the movie like two parallel lines until the end – in an exceptionally artificial way. It ruins the whole movie, despite a few positive moments – especially the almost documentary scene of the outdoor funeral pyre, the “masaan”.