The Eyes Review

After the National Award winning 'Bangaru Talli', it is the turn of yet another 'hatke' film from Mollywood to impress the Telugu audience.  'The Eyes', starring Meera Jasmine in the lead's role, is the dubbed version of Ms Lekha Tharoor Kaanunnathu, directed by Shajiyem.  The 2013 film, itself an adaptation of the 2002 Hong Kong film 'The Eye', received much critical applause.

Billed as a scary fantasy, the film makes a strong impact with its writing and technical presentation, not to forget Meera's studied portrayal of the protagonist.  The impression is that all the paranormal visions have been heard of before, especially by those exposed to international cinema; yet, this film is worth a watch for adapting a Hong Kong film sans all the incomprehensibles.  The narration is neat and nativised as far as possible, the proceedings thrill as well as scare, living up to the genre of the film.

Meera is a noted TV show host, whose concepts have a craze among the viewers.  Meera, now in her 20s had lost her eyes due to a cracker misfiring on a Diwali day when she was 4 years old.  Her sister has always felt that Meera was blinded because of her negligence, even as Meera feels that it is a normal life as far as she is concerned.

When she is 25, Meera gets a new pair of eyes transplanted when the right match is found.  However, ever after the surgery, she starts seeing dead people as well, with a blurred vision.  Problems begin when all around her conclude that she is a psycho, as is the case with all such characters in films.

There is more to it than meets the eye and it is about the person whose eyes were transplanted to her in the first place.  The rest of the film is about revealing the answered questions about that person and how Meera realizes that there is more meaning to all that is happening to her.

The film stands out for its excellent technical quality.  Be it the cinematography or the editing, they are slick and make the film a sleek thriller.  The BGM is all over there and makes its impact in reinforcing the theme.  To add to this, the art department and the make-up department too do a splendid job.  But for them, much of the film would have been a less exciting affair.

Meera Jasmine as Lekha is quintessentially a natural.  She is very authentic and convincing in the role of a frightened as well as troubled person with an inexplicable capacity. Vennelakanti's dialogue is, again, apt and brings out the meaning without taking the lip sync as a casualty.

After a while, however, one feels the film rests solely on Meera Jasmine's strengths.  After raising the tempo and making us expect nothing less than a swashbuckler about Meena (the person who donated eyes to Lekha), the second half loses the intensity a bit.

The songs too seem to fail to complement the pace of the film.

Verdict: Over all, this one is a genuine scary thriller.  Meera Jasmine's natural act has to be watched out for.  Technically good, this adaptation is worth a watch.

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