“Blurr is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language horror thriller film. It has been directed by Ajay Bahl and jointly produced by Zee Studios, Outsiders Films and Echelon Productions. The film features Taapsee Pannu and Gulshan Devaiah in the leading roles. This is Taapsee Pannu’s first project as a producer.”
Title: Blurr
Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Gulshan Devaiah, Abhilash Thapliyal & ensemble.
Director: Ajay Bahl
Blurr is a classic example of how not to structure a thriller. Directed by Ajay Bahl, and also written by Pawan Sony, the movie is a remake of the 2010 Spanish film “Julia’s Eyes”. The premise of the movie is quite complicated. A blind girl hangs herself in the presence of someone we not revealed to the audience and her sister has to now find out who it was. Throughout her process, she finds herself entangled in the same mess as her sister and the mystery begins to unravel.
Right off the bat, there is very little that sets this film apart from others. It’s the same technique we have seen over many other thrillers. Unrealistic plot twists occur that work out perfectly for the protagonists and a plot line that is not very interesting. For example, Taapsee enters a room full of blind women and finds out the exact hotel her sister died at as all the women here know about her sister. Many such instances lead to killing the urge to get a unique film.
The pacing of this movie and character development of Pannu’s character are none existent. The film is one event after another and often feels very choppy. There is very little time dedicated towards exploring Pannu’s character in depth. She is never given space to grief so she at least looks humane enough to connect with her. Due to the pacing, there are a lot of instances where the movie will jump from plot point to plot point and forget details that were shared previously. They go very deep into details that seem very irrelevant such as her sister liking music and not liking rap. Maybe these were supposed to be moments for Pannu to remember her sister or for reminiscent flashbacks, but these details were never shared.
Credit where it’s due, the idea of not showing the faces of the people around Taapsee after she loses her eyesight is good and something fresh. But the build-up to it dilutes the impact. This aspect is something that I have not seen in awhile and it seemed similar to the affect that films like “A Quiet Space” give. Taapsee Pannu has been in many remakes this year, but this film did not show her abilities as an actress. I am unsure if it had to do with the writing or her execution.
Overall this movie was not for me. Instead of feeling on the edge of my seat, I felt that I was on the edge of being asleep. There were a couple cool aspects, but this film is a pass.
