PremiumBlink movie review: Dheekshith Shetty’s sci-fi flick is a bold and engaging take on Oedipus
Blink Kannada movie review: Debutant Srinidhi Bengaluru's Blink is set across two timelines and explores the connection between the characters in each.
Last Updated: 10.25 PM, Mar 08, 2024
Blink movie story: Apoorva (Dheekshith Shetty) makes a living doing odd jobs and occasionally bumping a couple of thousands from his girlfriend Swapna (Mandara Battalahalli). When a mysterious elderly man called Arivu (Suresh Anagalli) tells Apurva that he has information about the latter’s father, who has been missing for years and is presumed dead, the youngster is led down a rabbit hole.
Blink movie review: A sci-fi flick revolving around time travel is an interesting combination. Blink, though, is not just about the protagonist jumping across time lines and changing things around. There is a twist in the tale that, mildly put, is quite twisted. Debutant director Srinidhi Bengaluru marries time travel with his take on Greek mythology’s Oedipus, a very bold move that he has presented in an extremely engaging narrative.
The film revolves around Dheekshith Shetty as Apoorva, a young man, who doesn’t have a steady job because he’s got a few exams to clear. Apoorva has been brought up by his mother, as his father walked out on them many years ago and is presumed dead. What happens when Apoorva is presented with information that his father may still be alive forms the crux of the tale.
The tale is told across two major timelines – one in 1995 and another in 2021. Srinidhi has common characters in both, but chooses to have different actors playing them, instead of using makeup or prosthetics on the main cast. This has the right effect in creating a tad bit confusion about who’s who and adds an element of surprise when the identity of some of these characters is revealed.
Dheekshith Shetty’s filmography is increasingly leaning towards projects in which he isn’t just a pretty face. In Blink, the actor brings a certain intensity to his character, Apoorva, whether he is bewildered about the strange occurrences around him, or is trying to make sense of it. He, of course, gets a major chunk of the screen time, but in a film that also stars actors like Gopalkrishna Deshpande and Chaithra J Achar, you’d want to see more of them too. Important as their roles are to the narrative, there’s not enough of them onscreen.
What strikes one about Blink is the clarity in the story-telling; even when it jumps between timelines, it is never jarring or out of place, with every thing that may seem strange at first getting a reasonable explanation along the way. The first impression one gets is that this must be the handiwork of a seasoned filmmaker, but as it turns out, debutant Srinidhi was all of 22 years old when he made Blink. It warms the cockles of the heart that there is a new brood of ‘sensible and sensitive’ filmmakers in the making, which is a good sign for the Kannada film industry.
Blink movie review: Dheekshith Shetty’s sci-fi film is quite an interesting watch, but realistically speaking, it is the kind that will appeal to a niche set of audience only. It is a little high-brow, so to say. If you like sci-fi and the cast, this is a movie that you should give a shot.