‘C U Soon’ is the latest Onam Special Malayalam movie to release in the digital medium during the lockdown. The movie was shot using iPhones during the lockdown, from the months of May to July in 2020. Produced by Nazriya and Fahadh, C U Soon stars Fahadh Faasil, Roshan Mathew, Darshana Rajendran, Saiju Kurup and others, the movie is directed by Mahesh Narayanan, who is an established editor. Does the team pull-off this experimental attempt? Read more to find out.

Scintillating locations; Extreme cuts; High Octane fight sequences; Mega budget movies - termed to be the stereotypes of South Indian Cinema, the Malayalam industry has always been a step ahead in making interesting movies, breaking all cliches. With ‘C U Soon’, the graph only attains a peak.

Mahesh Narayanan’s ‘C U Soon’ is a milestone for Malayalam cinema. The cinematic intelligence of the director and his vision is splendid and says out loud the solid fact that no virus can curb the creativity of an artist. The director has put his entire mind to use while penning the script and pulls it off to a great extent, while executing the same.

The story revolves around Roshan Mathew and his newfound online love Darshana Rajendran. All is well until Darshana sends him a video message and vanishes. What happened and how Fahadh Faasil finds the mysterious truth behind her, forms the plot. The screenplay is electric that you wouldn’t want to take a loo break or a popcorn break. The success of the movie is when you’re glued to the seat for the entire duration, without taking your eyes off the screen.

With ‘C U Soon’, you’ll definitely be ‘C’ing the screen.On the acting front, all the actors are to the point, keeping up with the pace of the screenplay. Roshan Mathew, after a splendid performance in ‘Kappella’ has kept up the expectations in this movie with a neat performance as ‘Jimmy’ and only more is expected of the star in the future. Darshana Rajendran emerges as the standout performer. Tamil audiences would remember her from playing a crucial role in the movie ‘Kavan’. In ‘C U Soon’, Darshana, playing one of the leads, has given a striking performance. Her portrayal of the eccentric character ‘Anu’ is indeed a stand-out. Needless to say, Fahadh Faasil carries out his character Kevin effortlessly, as usual. This seems like a cakewalk for him and the actor is producing surprises one after the other.

The chat conversations between the actors are rightly scripted, giving you the feel that the actors are conversing in real life. There is not a single deviation from the plot with unwanted songs or irrelevant sequences. Only what is required is served, in the right proportions.

Probably, the best thing about ‘C U Soon’ is about how real the plot moves on. How a Tinder profile of a desperate single guy looks; how couples talk to each other in video call; how a cyber security expert has a tidy computer, yet an untidy house - elements of reality are taken into great consideration and there’s no place where you might feel like the story is slightly overboard.

The surprising part about ‘C U Soon’ is how strong the movie is, technically. Shot only using iPhones and mostly, indoors, the director still manages to take us on a virtual tour inside the lives of Jimmy, Kevin and Anu Mol. The transition from one frame to another is surreal and the director/editor deserves a special mention for the same.

There are no songs in ‘C U Soon’ and there are no usual ‘romantic sequences’ between the couple. However, there is a series of background scores that travel along with the screenplay right from the beginning till the end and that acts as a major boost to the story and the plot. It creates enough tension to have you bite your nails, trying to figure out what’s going to happen in the next minute.

With a run time of around 95 minutes, ‘C U Soon’ is tightly packed and neatly presented without logical flaws. The fact that the entire movie was shot during the lockdown is astonishing and is only going to pave the way for more such creative artists coming forward and making brilliant on-paper scripts, a reality.