Shajiyem’s The Eyes (2015) Movie Review

Shajiyem’s The Eyes (2015) Movie Review

Opened on October 9th, 2015
Star Cast: Meera Jasmine, Badri, Shankar, Suraj, Geetha, Ayesha, Krishna, Sunil & Rosin
Produced by D. Venkatesh
Directed by Shajiyem

With the popularity of ghost stories free made into Telugu film like The End, Mayuri, Boochamma Boochodu, Chandrakala and Ganga, it was just matter time before someone would try to free make Hong Kong horror thriller Gin Gwai (2002) known now as Meera Jasmine’s The Eye.

The Eye is about an accomplished television host Chandra Lekha (Meera Jasmine) whose fondness and appeal are only exceeded by her maven status on her favorite work. She’s been functionally blind since the age of four when both of her corneal were damaged on a Diwali day. At the urging of her sister Chitra (Aasha), Lekha undergoes ocular transplant to open up her world. When the bandages are removed, Lekha’s sight is restored, but along the renewed vision comes the spirits images of death and terror. Unable to silence the evil, Lekha turns to her doctor Ajay Kumar (Badri) for help and two head off to uncover the shocking identity of the eye donor.

It’s hard to imagine how old a plot like this must be. I ran across something similar in Tollywood long back, Kokila (1989) directed by Geetha Krishna. In which I remember a pair of eyes were transplanted from a murder victim onto a normal person then he gets to see the last glimpses of the murder.

Even in this case its eye transplant, but this allows the recipient to see some of the things experienced by the now deceased owner. The eye is a free make of an Asian horror film Gin Gwai (2002), which has inspired Hollywood film The Eye (2008) and a Bollywood film Naina (2005). The script by K Sooraj and Shajiyem is tatty and there would be countable few who wount be able to guess the rest after starting few minutes unroll on screen. And sadly all our premises turn out to be true. Screen writers must be blamed for the movies lack of tension. A dreadful writing, soap opera lines for thinly drawn roles, stuffing the plot with dramatic faux starts to fill the run time. The conditions are pretty dismal around here, like for instance there is no reason why lekha sees spirits in some particular times, unlike the victim (who was just able to see the future incidents). Even the last fifteen minutes of the film undoubtedly make up for the worst part and though not exactly anticipated the climax twist is not entirely believable as well. Lekha takes life changing decision leading upto the climax ripped from the “final destination” series. And yet leave the loose ends remain untied. The special effects in the film leave plenty to be desired.  The direction is not upto the mark. The musical score by Ramesh Narayan entirely fails to create an impact, BGM is too loud. The movie could have at least benefitted from some better editing. Cinematography by Chandra Mouli however comes up with a few noteworthy frames otherwise it’s a patchy techincal affair.

The three major characters in the film – Meera Jasmine, Badri and Rosin Jolly – and their interactions with each other are often mistily drawn, with very little detailing. There is no bond, feels and esthesises in them that would make them a part of the viewer’s world. The other actors like Geetha Vijayan, Sunil Sukhada, Krishna, Jose, Asha, Arun Ghosh, Suraj Venjarammoodu and Shankar simply leave you in aghast with worst to bad performances.

The Eyes is a real scarey film that gives you the fawns with its nerve-racking screenplay, the timeworn story, hazy visual effects, direful acting, the loud sound effects and the almost fanciful add-ons.

Survi Review: 1/5