I am convinced that Malayalam film makes are obsessed with converting true life incidents into films. From #OruCBIDiaryKuruppu to #TakeOff and then #Helen to now #Vikrithi, there seems to be a never-ending fascination with incidents that almost serve as markers of changing times. And the social media blitzkrieg has only added more fuel to the fire.
ASHOK’s FIVE reviews #EmcyJoseph’s #Vikrithi literally meaning mischief. The film is streaming on #NetflixIndia and stars two powerhouse actors #SurajVenjaramoodu and #ShoubinShahir. The film is based on the social media outrage with regard to a drunken cop on the Kochi metro a few years ago. It later transpired that the gent in person was not drunk at all and was simply clicked napping. The film serves to show how mischief spread on back of social media can destroy not just the character of an innocent individual but even his life!
Eldho (#SurajVenjaramood at his histrionic best) is a deaf and mute clerk at the school. When his daughter is hospitalised, he spends two nights awake at the hospital and returns home on the metro. He falls asleep on the metro out of sheer exhaustion. Sameer (#ShoubinShahir) who is visiting his home state on leave from the Gulf clicks a photo of him lying prone on the seat and in a fit of mischief puts up a meme which goes viral. Life becomes a nightmare for both Eldho and his wife Elsy (#SurabhiLakshmi) who is also deaf and mute.
The film meanders a little bit in the second half and could do with some tight editing but what stands out for sure is the acting heft of the two leads and the character development. Eldho is introduced to the audience humming to the tune of Koothambalalthil Vacho from #Appu and a co-passenger asks him for directions only to realise that he can’t hear. From the extreme of a character who can’t communicate at all, you have the other character Sameer who can’t desist from wither going live on Facebook or posting a comment on WhatsApp.
Sameer is not portrayed as a villain at all; he is rather someone who like all of us is obsessed with social media and has made a mistake. He is penitent and moves from a happy-go-lucky character who provides us some great comic moments in the first half to a truly petulant son and husband in the second.
Overall a great attempt, that kind of slips into mediocrity. Watch it for the exceptional performances.
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