Blink

I don't think many people here have the German series Dark. The film Blink borrows liberally from the German series that was both about time travel and travel between universes.

Anyway, about Blink. A decent effort no doubt, but the back ground score!! My God, too loud and jarring. Indian films are slowly learning the value of silence. Obviously, not this one. Literally jumping in my seat with the unexpectedly loud score. Also I didn't feel the interspersing of songs were necessary in a film of this nature. Took away from the tautness of the narrative.

Acting was good and dialogues were passable.

Some continuity issues, could have been addressed with tighter editing.

Hope the team, now a movie old, will do a better job of it during the making of their next.

Apoorva is yet to get financially stable and struggling to get a part time along with passing his final exams. He is dating Swapna, who helps him financially at times. Apoorva does feel insecure about not having a job and to add for his woes, he constantly feels being followed by a man named Arivu and even hallucinates seeing himself, but is it really his hallucination? Apoorva was raised by his single mother after his dad left him when he was five years old. The mysterious Arivu tells Apoorva that his father is still alive. How does Apoorva figure out what's happening with him and will he be able to figure out the mystery behind his father's disappearance? Is Arivu really trustworthy, forms rest of the story.

This is a film truly made by a cinephile and there are cinematic reference galore throughout the film. The director even acknowledges the films he took inspiration from. Merging Oedipus Rex with sci-fi time travel narrative is not an easy task and that too for debut director. On that front, it is a brave attempt which muse be lauded. To speak of what didn't work for me was the different actors cast in the same character as the timeline progresses and it just wasn't justifiable casting though the actors did their job well. I usually refrain from mentioning editing in reviews, but here better editing was required especially in the first half.

Even the inspirations taken, those aren't easy to sell it to the audience. Here the director gets the support of his able cast who carry the complex story forward. The usage of Janapada songs was definitely impactful while the couple of other compositions were fine. The main focus of the narrative should have been between Apoorva and Arivu from early on but first half mere gives the glimpse of it with Apoorva chasing him. It is only in the third act where these two characters flourish together and that throwback to Oedipus Rex play comes out effectively. Overall, this must be watched for the attempt and to support the talent that dares to think outside the routine.

2014 movie, "Predestination" has similar time travel loop. "Blink" appears to be a simplified version of this. Even then, it is a good effort in Kannada movie, to bring a sci-fi story into life that can be understood easily. I enjoyed it. Happy watching.

PS: Netflix 2017 series "Dark" (my rating 10/10) and Night Shyamalan 2024 movie "Caddo Lake" (my rating 6/10) are other recommendations for sci-fi enthusiasts. "Looper" Bruce Willis 2012 movie (my rating 8/10) is another movie in this genre. Year 2000 movie "Frequency" (my rating 8/10) is another time travel genre movie that you all may like.

I absolutely loved the book references, movie references and the bgm of the movie. It's well crafted. The music, the lyrics of the songs are something I wanna listen to over and over again!

I liked how a lot of new artists were introduced in the movie.

I don't think the kannada audience in my theatre enjoyed the new concept, recieved a lot of negative comments towards the end of the movie.

I'm glad I enjoyed this movie in the theatres given that the bgm is splendid!

I could very well spot the mad love towards kannada, cinema, books and music. For someone who loves books, music and cinema, this movie was a package deal!

This film deserves some more viewership and has been momentum since March 2024 mostly through word of mouth, so I'm doing my bit, you should check this out *conditions apply.

If you enjoy the "Bro, WHAT is going on?", predicting how things will unfold and getting it right, you should watch this. If you like looking for answers after the movie, you should watch this. Acting was okay I guess, nothing to write home about but - GREAT editing.

I don't think I've seen a whole lot of movies with such a plot in Indian cinema, and from what I'm reading, it's very new to the Kannada audience as well. If you're looking for something unique, this surely fits the bill.

Plot conveniences - you can play along with these, but dealing with plot holes is a pain, especially with the mind-bending genre. Looking for answers may sometimes not help either. The problem with this film though is that there are a lot of questions, and you can't tell if it's a convenience or a hole; parts of Kannada audience is chalking it up to 'bad-writing'. And I think I have to agree....? Dunno, haven't made up my mind yet.

But it's a solid and commendable debut film, not easy to make something like this in India and not get panned.