Just as the song in Vikrithi goes, a smartphone camera is a one-eyed window to the world that has the ability to tear apart lives as well as mend broken bonds.
Vikrithi is essentially about a bunch of good people -- with 'textbook goodness' -- and how their lives turn turtle through a viral photograph.
For debutant director Emcy Joseph and scriptwriter Ajeesh P Thomas, it was all about building a narrative around a real life incident that has the ability to make the audience empathize with the characters.
The movie effectively unfurls a hoax and trails the impact it made on the lives of the people involved.
A soon-to-be-married Sameer (Soubin Shahir), who works in the Gulf, is on leave. He captures a total stranger in an embarrassing situation on his mobile camera.
The photo goes viral overnight on social media trampling upon the mundane lives of a hearing and speech impaired couple and their children.
On the receiving end is Eldho (Suraj Venjaramoodu), a private school assistant from a Kochi suburb, whose life couldn't be more vanilla and uneventful.
The image, which triggers a malignant troll that wreaks havoc on the middle class family forces them to search for the origin of the photograph.
The film deals with the invasiveness of social media and the apathy of the prying eyes behind mobile cameras that snoop into the lives of others.
The filmmakers couldn't find a better fit than Soubin for the character of social media addict, who feeds on the number of likes of his posts.
For Suraj, Eldho was more like an evolved version of his character in the movie Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum.
The relationship between Eldho and his wife, played by Surabhi Lakshmi, is truly a joy to watch on screen as a pinch of romance is intrinsically woven into the story.
Though the film has a rich cast and a handful of well established characters, the makers couldn't put many of them to better use.
The roles played by Baburaj, Mamukoya, Vincy Aloshious and Mareena are easily replaceable, but Irshad is an exception.
The innate goodness of the characters in the movie sort of drains a sense of reality from it.
It is like adding too much sugar to a well steeped tea.
In essence, the movie is about a society too good to be true.
Despite the relevant social message it puts forth, the movie fails to create a lasting impression.
Alby is the cinematographer and Bijibal is the music composer for Vikrithi. The film is edited by Ayoobkhan.
Vikrithi has been produced by AD Sreekumar, Ganesh Menon, Lakshmi Warrier.
