Review: Lockdown

Film: Lockdown
Director: A R Jeeva
Cast: Anupama Parameswaran, Charlie, Nirosha, Priya Venkat, Livingston, Indhumathi, Rajkumar, Shamji, Lollu Sabha Maran, Vinayaga Raj, Vidhu, Sanjivie, Priya Ganesh, Asha
Producer: Subaskaran
Music: NR Raghunanthan & Siddharth Vipin
Director of Photography: K.A. Sakthivel
Editor: V.J. Sabu Joseph
Art Director: A. Jayakumar
Rating: 3 stars

Director A R Jeeva’s Lockdown is based on a real incident that occurred in the state in the year 2020 when the world was brought to a standstill by the deadly Corona virus.

The film is a mixed bag as it only succeeds partially in its mission to make you empathize for its protagonist.

Synopsis:
Anita (Anupama Parameswaran) is a girl who comes from a middle-class family comprising her dad, mom, younger sister and her. She has completed her education and is now on the look out for a job in the IT industry. However, the makers would have us believe that she finds it difficult to land a job because of the conditions her family imposes on her such as taking up a job that requires her to only work in day shifts or finding a job in a company that will not transfer her to another city.

Despite her best efforts, she is not able to land a job. It is then that she calls up one of her friends, who is now doing well in an IT firm, to find out if there are vacancies in her organisation. The friend asks her to meet her in the evening to discuss about the vacancy. However, when she goes to meet her, the IT girl takes her to an office party happening by the beach.

Two months pass and eventually, one day, Anita feels discomfort and goes to a doctor for a check up. She is in for a rude shock as she finds she is pregnant. She desperately wants to abort the baby but as luck would have it, a lockdown is imposed in the nation…

Analysis:
The film’s plot is narrated in such a way that the protagonist is rid of any responsibility or accountability. For instance, the director desperately wants us to believe that Anita was just a perfect, obedient daughter and that her decision to go to a party, lie to her mother that she was staying overnight at a friend’s place, drinking to her heart’s content and dancing and eventually passing out were all not her mistakes but that of those around her.

However, it is hard to overlook all of these and you only get reminded of the saying, “What you sow, so you reap”. As a result of this failure to fix accountability, one is not able to sympathise wholeheartedly with the protagonist. However, one does feel the pain of her family members and the trauma they suffer. Especially, the pain of the dad (played by Charlie). So, in part, the film succeeds in its mission.

Performances:
Anupama Parameswaran delivers a commendable performance, portraying with conviction, the character of a helpless girl, who, faced with an enormous problem, struggles to resolve it all by herself.

Charlie, who plays Anupama’s dad in the film, and Nirosha, who plays her mom, come up with sterling performances to steal the limelight.

Technical team’s contribution:
NR Raghunanthan and Siddharth Vipin’s music amplifies the emotion being showcased on screen and is definitely one of the film’s strengths. Sakthivel’s visuals are sharp and easy on the eye.

Editor Sabu Joseph could have been a little more strict and chopped off certain unnecessary scenes, to make the film a little more tight. For instance, there is a sequence in which Anupama is shown performing the pregnancy test in detail. This could have been done away with, showing just the end scene of the sequence which confirms that she is pregnant.

Verdict:
In all, Lockdown is a reasonably gripping film that keeps you hooked to the screen. However, one cannot say that it is all that convincing. A good one time watch.