Saiju Sreedharan’s Footage follows the logic of the genre to which it belongs. The Malayalam found-footage movie from 2024, which has been dubbed into Hindi, revolves around a pair of vloggers who have turned their cameras on themselves and their surroundings.
From spying on a lovemaking couple to capturing their own sexual congress, the unnamed man (Vishak Nair) and woman (Gayathri Ashok) truly believe in documenting every lived moment for their miniscule set of followers. As the man says, keep your camera on and record everything.
Things get complicated when the couple gets overtly interested in a mysterious neighbour (Manju Warrier). Already obsessed with supposedly unexplained phenomena, the man and woman follow their neighbour on an eventful night, the results of which are captured separately on each of their cameras.
Anurag Kashyap is presenting the Hindi version. It is not difficult to see why Kashyap was excited by Sreedharan’s edginess-heavy directorial debut, which is narrated entirely from the point of view of the couple’s cameras.
A reputed editor in Malayalam cinema, Sreedharan’s credits include Virus, Kumbalangi Nights and Maheshinte Prathikaram. Sreedharan’s feel for pacing and rhythm are present in Footage, which has rambling moments where nothing seems to be happening as well as frenetic scenes – including a bust-up shot upside down – when the couple go too far in their curiosity.
However, there’s a lingering sense that the conceit has not quite gone anywhere except in circles, making the 124-minute duration feel unearned at times. The denouement feels tame after the intense build-up.
But there is no denying Sreedharan’s skill at sustaining the atmospherics, or how Nixon George’s sharp sound design maintains the intrigue. The performances are compelling too, with Vishak Nair and Gayathri Ashok aptly portraying a couple with cameras seemingly growing out of their hands.
Whatever Footage’s actual achievements, it is a technical feat, marrying the voyeurism inherent in the act of shooting with the inherently disturbing elements of the found footage film. Scripted by Sreedharan and Shabna Mohammed, Footage is a chronicle of an age that demands shareable moments, where no experience is valid until it exists in video form.
However, there are consequences to unauthorised prying. Some things escape meaning altogether even when committed to film – on this point, Footage scores heavily.
