Netrikann is a crime thriller directed by Milind Rau, and produced by Vignesh Shivan under the banner Rowdy Pictures. The film was released directly on Disney+ Hotstar OTT.
It is based on the Korean film Blind, and has Nayanthara playing the lead role. Girishh Gopalakrishnan has composed the music while RD Rajasekar has handled the cinematography.
Durga is a CBI Officer who loses her brother and her vision in a deadly accident while returning from a party. On the other hand, there's a man who is on a kidnapping spree in the city. What happens when both their lives intersect, and how she manages to nab him despite her vision loss forms the plot.
Instead of calling Netrikann a crime thriller, it would suffice to call the film a mass-crime thriller, as the Lady Superstar is in fine form as CBI Officer Durga and has her own mass moments which she owns like a boss. She's put in so much effort for the action sequences and it has translated well on screen. Her performance is equally complemented by the stunt choreography and RD Rajasekar's camerawork.
Making wise, Netrikann is a world class film. Girishh Gangadharan's music evokes pathos in sad situations, and compels us to empathize with the character Durga, travel with her, and understand her world. The songs are beautiful and don't become speed breakers to the screenplay. At no point does the film reduce the dignity of her character to make us sympathize with her. Therefore, the film has it's heart at the right place.
This can be extrapolated to the film as well. There are a lot of glorious moments for the lady superstar. The performances by supporting actors like Manikandan, and Saran are outstanding. The technical qualities like music and cinematography are superb. The fight sequences by Dhilip Subbarayan are thoroughly thought out. When all these work well, the film makes you wonder, how good this product would have been if the writing was even more solid.
On the flipside, there are few issues with the writing and the screenplay. There's a sequence where the antagonist is captured. Ideally, the film should have ended there. But there's an extra sequence which looks force-fitted. Had the film ended there, the run-time would have been shorter than 2 hours and the engagement would have been better.
The lavish usage of cinematic liberties also affects the engagement at places. Characters enter and exit conveniently, and it's hard to believe what's happening on screen. There's a superbly staged chasing scene involving a dog, Durga, and the antagonist (Ajmal Ameer) in a metro station that ends in a mall. Cinematically, the scene is fantastic, but when it needs a cinematic liberty to end, it hits the engagement.