There is no way in which we could turn our faces away from the pertinence of the theme, and its truer than ever today that as technology overwhelms our lives, a button press could wreck a series of lives, including ours. In addition to the significant stream of thought that it offers, ‘Vikruthi’ is also is a decently appealing film that has its bountiful share of charming moments.
At a time when film makers seem and sound to be running out of inventive ideas, director Emcy Joseph grabs a tiny incident that had made it to the news headlines not so long back, and crafts it into an engaging film. ‘Vikruthi’ needs to be applauded hence both for its pertinent theme and the audacity of its maker to decide to come up with a full length feature from what appears to be a tiny stream of thought.
Sameer (Soubin Shahir) is on a vacation from his job in the Middle East, and hopes to tie the knot this time around with the girl (Vincy Aloshious) whom he had set his eyes on, for long. With the wedding all set, Sameer finds himself in an elated mood, and in the course of one his journeys aboard the Kochi Metro, runs into a man appearing dead asleep inside the train. Sameer clicks a picture assuming that he is a drunkard who has lost his wits, and posts it on Whatsapp, which soon turns out to be a viral entry.
The man who bears the brunt of Sameer’s seemingly innocent act is none other than Eldo (Suraj Venjarammoodu), a deaf and mute man who works as a peon in a school. Returning home after several sleepless nights at the hospital where his daughter has been under treatment, the man had fallen asleep exhausted and drained out to the core.
With Sameer’s post is rampantly being shared across the social media, Eldo’s life is smashed to smithereens, and he ends up losing his job in addition to being subjected to severe ridicule. With no other alternative in sight, he lodges a complaint with the Cyber Cell, hoping to bring the culprit who had shattered his life to book.
What makes ‘Vikruthi’ special is its non-judgemental approach in its writing (Ajeesh P Thomas) that refuses to torment Sameer for the slip-up that he had committed. Rather, it points out to the potential miscreants that each one of us naively could be, armed with a mobile camera and an eye that is opinionated and very often a bit too probing about what is happening all around.
Which is why this is a film that sees this horrific incident that almost ruined a man’s life as a mischief, and perhaps rightly so, because Sameer is no hardcore criminal with an intent to harm. Rather he is as ordinary as a man could possibly be, and succumbs to the inevitable when his curiosity gets the better of him.
There are spectacular performances from all the lead actors, be it Suraj Venjarammoodu, Soubin Shahir, Surabhi Lekshmi (who plays Eldo’s wife) or Vincy Aloshious. There are also efficient supporting performances from actors as Baburaj, Sudhi Koppa, Jaffer Idukki, Irshad and Nebish Benson. Alby’s cinematography is appropriately efficient while Bijibal’s musical score matches up with the tenor of the film.
There is no way in which we could turn our faces away from the pertinence of the theme, and its truer than ever today that as technology overwhelms our lives, a button press could wreck a series of lives, including ours. In addition to the significant stream of thought that it offers, ‘Vikruthi’ is also is a decently appealing film that has its bountiful share of charming moments.
Verdict: Laudable Endeavour