Lens

On a very basic level Lens is a preaching movie that tries to tell you about the less discussed side of the victims of cyber torture. But the good thing about this movie is that it has this cinematic thriller factor to its credit and it rightfully questions the double standards of people.

Our hero Aravind is this cyber sex addict who likes to have these midnight lusty conversations with stranger ladies. The movie shows us one such Skype call he makes in search of sexual pleasure but ends up changing his whole life.

For those aspiring film makers out there, the less costly setup (relatively) required for executing this script might create that creative envy. The screenplay maintains a realistic environment and still manages to be intriguing. Lens isn’t exactly a Malayalam cinema as the main language used is English along with Malayalam and Tamil getting used occasionally to make the scenario look real. It’s brutal at times and the content laughs at the lame justification people make after enjoying breaking in to someone’s privacy.

The movie isn’t a technically compromised low budget cinema. It has the attire of a very well made movie with almost every technical aspect showing quality. I am saying this only because I sort of sensed a general reaction that it’s one of those limited budget quality compromised movie. Director Jayaprakash Radhakrishnan creates the atmosphere required for the movie nicely. There is no artificiality or extra drama in depicting the lust, the angst and the fury. Even when the back story sounds a bit cheesy, there is a pain it obtained by being emotionally real. There is an impressive debate towards the end where the culprit tries to justify his quest for temporary pleasure and the victim questions and teases him with valid arguments. The navel show in the beginning sort of looked awkward. But as the movie approached its end, it made sense. The background score was totally engaging. The cinematography approach was also nice.

Jayaprakash the director performs the role of the main protagonist Aravind and he has done a really good job in being that lust seeking individual who fumbles completely when confronted. More than Jayaprakash I liked the performance of Anand Sami as Yohan. His character had this multiple shades of emotions and he maneuvers the character through all that impressively. Vinutha Lal in my opinion has got the best character in her career and was good.

Excluding the cheesiness you feel in those flashback sequences, Lens is a movie that creates an impact in the viewers mind. Its thumbs up from Lensmen for Lens and the rating is rightfully a bit generous.

Rating: 3.5/5