Director: Shome Makhija

Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Purab Kohli, Vinay Pathak, Lillete Dubey, Shubham Saraf, Lucy Aarden, Javed Khan

Available On: JioCinema

Duration: 2 Hour 4 Minutes

‘Blind’: Story

When a twist of fate leaves Gia (Sonam Kapoor) blind, she must summon every ounce of courage to rebuild her life. But when she becomes the sole witness to a heinous crime, she unwittingly enters a deadly game of cat and mouse with a dangerous criminal (Purab Kohli). Will Gia be able to convince the chief detective (Vinay Pathak) that she isn’t lying? Will she and another eye-witness (Shubham Saraf) be able to finally nab the criminal? Will Gia finally be able to get her vision back? Will she be able to get her job back? Will she lose someone close to her in the process? Will she be able to save her loved ones? Well, for all that, you’ll have to watch ‘Blind’.

‘Blind’: Performances

Purab Kohli wins you over yet again with a powerful performance. It’s a shame that we don’t get to see him perform more often onscreen. The way in which he eases into the character is not just sinisterly evil but even devilishly smooth. He makes the negative character look so overtly charming that you end up having sympathy for the character. He is subtle and doesn’t try too hard to convince you that he is the bad guy in the situation, but with absolute ease, he just keeps peeling the different layers of the character one by one and thereby winning your approval.

This was a perfect chance for Sonam Kapoor to hit back at all the haters of hers who say that she is expressionless and can’t act. She had a perfect character, which didn’t need expressions to portray the emotions that well, as she was playing a blind character. However, Sonam Kapoor tried to put so much effort into getting the act right that it eventually spoilt it up for her. There is a particular scene in the movie where she is crying her guts out lying in the hospital bed. It looks so fake and emotionless that you’re left questioning as to why was that even kept for such a long duration in the scene. A bit more research into getting the movements of the blind would have made the character reach some semblance of reality.

Vinay Pathak is another actor who is effortlessly charming. His quick wit and subtle humour make the character instantly likeable. He gives the character the feel of a detective like Karamchand, by constantly munching throughout every scene.

Shubham Saraf is decent in the minimal screen time that he has onscreen. He is extremely expressive, but loud at the same time. There are sequences where he belches out so hard that you’re constantly wondering ‘Was that even needed?’

Lillete Dubey was wasted in a character that was too small for her stature. Her role could have been done by any other junior artist as she was totally under-utilised.

‘Blind’: Script, Direction & Technical Aspects

Shome Makhija’s writing of the adapted screenplay is decent. While he hasn’t tried to change a lot from the original Korean film, ‘Blind’. What’s good about it is that he hasn’t tried to make the character become completely Indian and rather kept it like a character who’s born and brought up in Glasgow and just that they happen to be Indian. The direction however leaves a lot of unanswered questions. Why was Sonam Kapoor’s character practising the perfect bullet shooting at a gun range? Couldn’t that have been the closing scene where she eventually gets the better of the villain using her shooting skills despite being blind? Then, there is a scene where Sonam Kapoor is held captive but her dog is totally normal with it. Any dog owner would know that when there’s anyone approaching the dog parent, the dog would be the first to react and bark. Here, the dog is absolutely quiet for almost half of the scene. There are many such similar instances which were left unanswered.

Gairik Sarkar’s cinematography is what makes ‘Blind’ worth the watch. The way he has captured the locales of Glasgow and justified the storyline to suit the locations is brilliant. As it’s a crime thriller, it has numerous night shots. None of them look incomprehensible and are all well-lit. However, considering the locales were brilliant, it wouldn’t have been a bad idea to have some more outdoor scenes during the day.

Tanupriya Sharma’s editing is another low point of the film. There are places where scenes could have been shortened. That would have made the film crisper and given a thrust to the crime thriller.

The music by Clinton Cerejo and Brianca Gomes is decent. The background score could have been more eerie considering it was a crime thriller and it’s set in a lazy small town in Scotland. Yet, the overall feel was haunting enough to make you feel like you’re standing right in the midst of everything happening.

‘Blind’: Can Kids Watch It?

Yes

Outlook’s Verdict

‘Blind’ is an opportunity squandered. Shome Makhija had a great opportunity and a brilliant setting to make a perfect crime thriller which would have kept you hooked till the very end. Sadly, the thrill just doesn’t end up coming that hard, and makes you feel cheated. Sonam Kapoor’s comeback act is not worth the wait. However, Purab Kohli and Vinay Pathak should do more mainstream films as their talents shouldn’t be let underutilised like this. Overall, ‘Blind’ is a Below Average watch. I am going with 2 stars.