How many times have you finished a zoom call and double-checked to ensure that your laptop camera is off? How many times have you panicked that you have forwarded a message on WhatsApp to the wrong window? And how many times in the recent past have you gone into a tizzy that your social media accounts have been hacked? One of the collateral damages of the lock down
has been how seamless the video call has intruded into your personal space. The paraphernalia of social media, WhatsApp chats, video calls and emails have become a necessary evil. Your persona can now be accurately constructed using your digital profile.
ASHOK’s FIVE reviews the Malayalam film #CUSoon that has gone viral with cutting edge innovation. Shot entirely on an iPhone over 18 days during the lockdown, this film takes inspiration from similar work but is a novelty in India and is an indicator of things to come. The film has just premiered on #AmazonPrimeVideo and is produced by #FahadhFaazil and #NazriyaNazim.
#CUSoon starts off innocuously with a young techie Jimmy (#RoshanMathew) finding love on a dating app. He is based in Abu Dhabi while Anu (#DarshanaRajendran) is based in Dubai. Jimmy’s mother is game for the alliance but asks his friend Kevin (#FahadhFaazil) to do an internet search on her. The search is clean save for the fact that Anu has no SIM card number. Things spiral out of control when a troubled Anu seeks help from Jimmy. The police pick up Jimmy and Kevin has to now use all his digital expertise to solve the mystery woman and rescue his friend.
1. The story has nothing novel about it. On the contrary, this is the oft told narrative of the gullible Malayali landing up in the Gulf with a dream in her heart and falling into the clutches of a vile operator. What’s new and astoundingly so is that the film plays out entirely on multiple screens in front of you. Director #MaheshNarayanan manages to build up the suspense and hold your attention through the digital maze. Sound designer #KunalRajan ensures that with every click, chime and tap of the keyboard, you are on the edge of your seat all through. The opening credits are also a novelty “Screenplay, Editing, Virtual Cinematography and Direction” all done by Narayanan. In an interview, he says that the editing took double the number of days of the actual shoot!
2. Long after the film ended, I sat up thinking… do we need to step out of home at all? Imagine living inside a house throughout your life; yes, I do hear the debate about man being a social animal, outdoors has its own charm, blah blah….
I think the standout feature for me was the manner in which #CUSoon makes a lot of the conventional thinking redundant. Gone are the expensive equipment, the precise lighting, camera angles, on-line editing and the expansive production crew. #MaheshNarayanan says its possible to do anything you want – get depth of field, capture emotions or even establish a location in the new paradigm. Films like #Searching and #Unfriended based on found footage provided the trigger but what Narayanan seems to have pulled off is the infusion of emotion. Every character emotes even as he or she is holding the ‘camera’ and in so doing brings out facial expressions like never before. #DarshanaRajendran has a robust background in theatre but just watch that scene where she breaks down and you realise what the extreme close-ups can accomplish.
3. #FahadhFaazil is fast becoming a versatile actor and I am enjoying the knack with which he is experimenting. His portrayal of the angry techie Kevin Thomas is brilliant; he communicates through his eyes even as he types with frenzy. The sketchy mechanics of an office romance gone sour does not do much for the narrative but helps build the character well. Faazil is surely the man to watch out for going forward.
4. #RoshanMathew has gone on record that he found it difficult to hold the camera and emote in the absence of the opposite character. He and #DarshanaRajendran play characters that are definitely more emotional. You cannot figure out till the very end whether Anu is genuine or not. And that is some smart writing and sequencing.
5. I couldn’t imagine that I would sit through a series of email messages on screen, WhatsApp chats and a host of video calls and wouldn’t get bored. In fact, the very fact that the suspense held me captive till the very end is testimony to a job well done.
#CUSoon will surely count amongst the pathbreaking films to come out of the Malayalam stable. I found it interesting that #MaheshNarayanan was very clear in his mind that the film should find currency in spite of and not due to the lockdown. It has agency, it has innovation and it delivers!
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