Footage, directed by Saiju Sreedharan, was one of the most anticipated Indian films. After its release though, we find the reception for the film not being up to the mark. The movie was an experimental feat and had a lot of potential or as it seemed looking at its trailer. The idea of creating a horror thriller through the perspective of found camera recordings is a unique and intriguing concept. This makes it quite important to analyse what caused the movie to fail or what was missing in the movie?
The movie was the directorial debut of Saiju Sreedharan. Saiju is a really good editor having edited several good films. He also chose a subject which focused on his editing skills more rather than allowing him to work as a proper director. But his decision to write the script made the whole impact. The story could not provide justice to such a unique concept of filmmaking. The whole plot of a couple prying on someone’s life is quite linear. With bad writing it becomes further uninteresting. Also, the movie’s attention to detail is weak. The couple tend to cling on to the camera even knowing the danger.
Apart from it, the characterization seemed pretty weak. The character of the mysterious woman (played by Manju Warrier) seems mysterious throughout the movie and is not revealed to us till the end. Her character was less explored by the writer and even her lack of dialogues in the movie is ambiguous as to if she is mute or not. Also, the worthless additions of the couple filming their intimate scenes, which absolutely had no real context in the film.
The movie with its unique concept of found footage recording, could have been one of the best artistic films to have released this year. But the weak writing and poor plot made the movie into a terrible experience. If the writing could have been better, the movie would have been in the league of genius Indian cinematic works.