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FILM REVIEW: CTRL

The 'CTRL'ing power of our devices Cast: Ananya Panday, Vihaan Samat, Kamakshi Bhat, Devika Vatsa, & Aparshakti Khurana in the v...


The 'CTRL'ing power of our devices

Cast: Ananya Panday, Vihaan Samat, Kamakshi Bhat, Devika Vatsa, & Aparshakti Khurana in the voice of Allen

Rating: 3.5*

OTT: Netflix

Director Vikramaditya Motwane comes up trumps with a concept like CTRL. He makes the film as a screen film where everything is happening through the eyes (read camera) of laptops and mobile phones. The risk taken by him pays off as the graphics are brilliantly done and leave a huge mark in the viewers' minds much after the film is over. It scares the audiences as our laptop and mobile cameras are always on and also one doesn't read the terms and conditions before clicking on various apps intending to save time. The risky propositions are shown effectively by Motwane in CTRL. It's a story well told and executed by the director. The lives of content creators and influencers are depicted wonderfully in the film.

Delhi-born and based Nella Awasthi (a superb Ananya Panday) lives in Mumbai and runs a social media channel called NJOY along with her boyfriend Joe Mascarenhas (a wonderfully able Vihaan Samat). They have a huge following of their cute videos that they put up but Nella becomes obsessed with increasing engagement and is actually taken up by her online avatar. Joe starts feeling neglected and as a result, becomes a part of a public interest tech group where he meets Shonali (Kamakshi Bhat). Nella wants to surprise Joe on his birthday but gets the shock of her life when she sees Joe kissing Shonali. Devastated and angry, Nella breaks up with Joe and has nothing to do with him. She comes across an app from Mantra Creations called CTRL, which can help her erase Joe from her digital past. Nella downloads it and creates an AI avatar, with her name spelt backwards- Allen (voiced by Aparshakti Khurana brilliantly). They form an emotional bond and Allen helps Nella to remove Joe's digital past. But unknown to her, the designers of 'CTRL' app have ulterior motives.

Avinash Sampath's story is inspired by the 2011 web series 'Black Mirror' and also follows along the lines of 'Searching' (2018) which are basically in the screen life moulds. But the film is simple and easy to comprehend. The film falters especially in the interactions between Nella and her relatives. The climax is a downer 

The film is gripping and is surely going to raise doubts in the viewers' minds regarding too much dependency on their devices/gadgets.

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