Review for NETRIKANN:
•Language: TAMIL
•Duration: 02 HOURS 25 Minutes.
•Genre: CRIME THRILLER.
•Streaming on HOTSTAR + DISNEY
• REVIEW BY ARUNJYOTHI.R.VALIYAVEETIL.
•POSITIVES:
1: Direction.
2: Story and Dialogues.
3: Performance of actors.
4: Cinematography.
5: Editing.
6: Action sequences.
•NEGATIVES:
1: Logics are missing.
2: Dragging second half.
3: Predictable.
4: Mediocre Screenplay.
•ONE WORD: A watchable thriller with the shining performance of Nayanthara.
•STORY IDEA:
Netrikann begins with Durga (Nayanthara) who works as a CB-CID officer who loses her brother due to a sudden accident which leads her to be visionless. She struggles due to her blind eyes but strongly believes in her willpower and manages to survive her disability. One day on a misunderstanding she gets into a car that is driven by a psychopath (Ajmal Ameer) who use to kidnap and torture girls, things get upside from that moment because the psychopath starts to hunt for Durga. Can Durga escape from him and will she be able to survive without her eye and vision is the rest of the story.
• DETAIL REVIEW:
Netrikann is directed by the newcomer Milind Rau who also writes the screenplay. The story is by Choi Min-seok, adapted from the 2011 Korean movie The Blind also Netrikann is done as a frame-to-frame remake. The dialogues for the film are written by Navin Sundaramurthy and Senthilkumar Kesavan. The movie is produced by Vignesh Shivan and Hyunwoo Thomas Kim under the banner of Rowdy Pictures and Kross Pictures. The cinematography is handled by R. D. Rajasekhar, the music is composed by Girishh Gopalakrishnan and the editing is by Lawrence Kishore. The movie opts for the OTT release and is now streaming through Hotstar+Disney.
First of all, I had watched the 2011 Korean film The Blind, so not comparing but the remake Netrikann had almost done justice to the original version, not fully but to an extent. The Korean adaptation to the Indian culture was brought out decently but the impact which the Korean version had created was missing in this remake. The attempt of remaking was honest, it’s a complete frame-to-frame work so those who had watched the original will feel disappointed but for those who haven’t this remake will be a perfect choice. It’s a complete cat and mouse game of heroine and villain so the movie is a thriller that is filled with many moments to get excited. The story is the prior factor here because one blind woman chasing after a psychopath offers the viewers an engaging package of a thriller. The story adapted from the original version is the first primary plus factor of this film because it has the potential content to cherish the viewers and also offers many nail-biting and exhilarating moments.
The direction held by Milind Rau was good but as a screenplay writer he was not up to the real level, for a crime thriller he was having many ideal thoughts in his direction but the screenplay doesn’t get raised to the accurate phase. The screenplay was suffering from many drawbacks, the first is the lack of logic. There are many loopholes in the script, for example, the police authorities failing to get the CCTV visuals of the villain who used to chase the important characters in public places. The next drawback is the subplot which tells the flashback of a villain on how and why did he become a psychopath was not convincing. His past life and the villain who is a doctor further becoming a psychopath was lacking with a good satisfying explanation, the reason was awful. Also, the subplot was having an important character, the villain’s wife which comes as a twist that was not handled correctly and hasn’t been explained properly, leading to losses end. Another is the absence of media, the city was filling with many missing girls and none of the media was not showing interest to cover up, therefore I guess the writer had forgotten it. Next is the mode of operation from the villain, how did he use to pick the girls, or is he picking through by dealing with his profession doesn’t give a clear idea. The most terrible thing in the film is happening towards the end, the villain, again and again, was easily rising back from death. Towards the end villain hitting several times himself on an iron rode and also in a concrete wall to provoke police officers and easily killing all of them and finally escaping from the police station was overdramatic. Then he suddenly gets back to kill where the heroine belongs, the funniest thing is still through the crowds of Chennai city the escaped killer gets easily traveled, no one is noticing and no action from police authorities, he is absolutely free to travel anywhere he likes. Another cliche is villain’s body catching fire and suddenly coming back again to kill the central character was overdramatic. So after all these incidents, the psychopath villain looks fine and healthy to do what he likes. The next drawback is everything is predictable, one can clearly have the idea how the movie is going to end, surprising elements were not seen in the second half.
Nayanthara is one of the biggest female stars in the South Indian film industry so the film offers many interesting scenes for her and for her to admire. The director had amazingly used the talents of Nayanthara and it was seen in the whole film. She carries the movie through her shoulder and her unique screen presence makes the movie not boring or tending to skip. The dialogues are written by Navin Sundaramurthy and Senthilkumar Kesavan give Nayanthara many favorable dialogues which eventually lead to whistle-worthy moments. There are many powerful dialogues in the film, Nayanthara questioning the culprit by asking ‘who are you to decide a woman good or bad and the dialogues of Nayanthara challenging the villain was having the potential scopes for huge applause. Still, the loopholed screenplay was having some interesting scenes especially the Metro station scene of the villain and Nayanthara, at a time it was nail-biting and exciting to know what is next. So the director had amazingly used the talents of Nayanthara and also the emotions he blended in the screenplay were also good especially the love between a dog and the master. Those scenes of Nayanthara with her pet dog was beautiful and emotional. The other emotions such as brotherhood, betrayal, lust, and vengeance were also added to portray different emotions and most of them were sinking in the screenplay. So all together as an adaptation the duty of the director to make the movie was quite easy and it worked decently but as a screenplay writer, he failed to give a big smash.
•PERFORMANCE OF ACTORS:
It’s all about Nayanthara’s sterling performance and she once again proved why she is called as Lady Super Star. Her characterization of a blind lady was brilliant in all terms, she was just living into it. The mannerism she had was flawless, how a blind lady lives, how they sense, and how they feel was acted out authentically without any errors. Her screen presences were all over with the film and the way she undertook it was amazing. All her dialogues were extraordinary especially when it comes to the anger scenes and action sequences, the real face of anger was prominently seen. The astonishing dialogue delivery and the accurate timing were exceptional. The emotional scenes were superior like always, the scenes in which she came to know her pet dog is no more was sentimental which gives me tears. So like I said, it was a complete energetic show of Nayanthara. Ajmal Ameer as the villain was an awesome job. The personalities of a psychopath were acted out genuinely, his style and attitude were matching for a psychopath killer. The action sequences were handled certainly in the right manner and the dialogue delivery was also impressive. Saran Shakthi comes with an important role throughout and he had given his best to make it noteworthy. The combination scenes he had with Nayanthara were nice which also had the angle of the brother-sister relationship. K. Manikandan as the Sub Inspector of Police also did a notable performance. Some of his situational comedies were fun and the combination scenes he had with Nayanthara were thrilling.
•TECHNCIAL SIDE:
The technical side of the film was remarkable especially the cinematography, editing, and background score. The cinematography by R. D. Rajasekhar was glorious, his frames and shots were excellent to set the mood of the film. There are many shots to be mention, what I liked the most is the climax visuals and the action sequences because the camera movements he had given to capture it was striking to the best extent. The shots of action sequences had given a great impact and the visuals of the chasing scenes were also steady. The close-up frames to apprehend the emotions of Nayanthara were flawless, the frames took the right mannerism of Nayanthara who act as the blind person. The lighting techniques used in indoor scenes were also harmonizing to set the premise, especially the scenes of villains secret place holding the girls. The editing by Lawrence Kishore was crisp and clear with the right time of cuts. His coloring and grading for the night scenes look original and the mismatches were not felt in the viewing experience. The person who choreographed the action sequences did a great job, how a blind can fight and what all she can do to survive was brought out authentically by the choreographer. The background score tuned by Girishh Gopalakrishnan was highlighted with the right mood and feel for a crime thriller. The background tunes were helping to set the thriller tune and the scenes having nail-biting moments were synced with the perfect background tunes. The song ‘Ithuvum Kadanthu Pogum’ sung by Sid Sriram was melodious and pleasant to hear with appealing visuals.
•CONCLUSION:
So overall Netrikann is all about the sensational performance from Nayanthara, she makes the movie watchable and her unbelievable screen space makes the time worth. There are some important drawbacks of loopholes bit still the movie has its moments to pass the thrill and excitement, won’t be disappointed and can consider for an engaging one-time watch. Therefore to conclude, I liked the film but as a person who had seen the original Korean version ‘The Blind’ this remake was slightly dissatisfying, but those who haven’t watched the original version can choose and go with Netrikaan to get thrilled.
•VERDICT: WATCHABLE THRILLER
•RATING: 3/5
