CTRL review: Ananya Panday and Vihaan Samat take full ‘control’ of this thriller which will act as a wake-up call for many!

Let’s face it. We all need a friend to lean on during our challenging and testing times, someone with whom we can share our happiness and sorrows with, someone to whom we can confess our deepest darkest secrets … basically a ‘multi-purpose shoulder’! And this friend becomes extremely important and inevitable during the times of heartaches and heartbreaks.

The story of Ananya Panday starrer CTRL also follows a similar trajectory. Only thing is that her friend is a virtual one!  The film starts off with a cutie-sweetie introduction of Nella Awasthi (Ananya Panday) and Joe Mascarenhas (Vihaan Samat), who take absolutely no time to fall in love. While Nella is all about the virtual world and social media, Joe is comparatively more realistic.

There is never a moment between the awesome twosome that is not worth capturing. They both define and redefine not just love… but true selfless love. Since they have so much in common, they both take the initials of their names N and J and create an ‘official community channel’ on social media called ‘N Joy’! In no time, the channel not just grows popular, but becomes the go-to place for all the love-struck puppies!

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One day, the tech freak Nella resorts to tracking Joe’s phone in order to find the location where he is, so that she can surprise him on his birthday! As she follows the tracker, she is led to a restaurant where she spots Joe…! She gets the shock of her life when she sees him engaging in a liplock with another girl named Shonali, with whom he works in a public interest tech group.

And since she was telecasting all of this live on social media, she became a laughing stock before everyone. In no time, her social media becomes a dumping ground for all the comments from many netizens plus the topic of discussion of many social media forums.

Despite his heartfelt apologies to Nella, she just would not take even a bit of it and calls it quits. Totally depressed, heartbroken and sad, Nella tries her hand into the dark world of cyberspace. That’s where and when she befriends a virtual friend named Allen, who is a ‘comic flirt’ by ‘description’.

He offers his services to Nella by saying that he can manage her daily schedules, read all her emails, and draft responses and also manage her social media, wherein he will decide when and what to post, whom to follow and whom to follow back…. In short, he presents himself as ‘the assistant that she did not know she needed’. In short, Nella tells Allen to take ‘control’ of her life and happiness.

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That’s when Nella ‘commands’ him to delete every possible photograph of Joe from the memory of the system, which he readily does, but in a time duration of 90 days. One night, Joe knocks at the door of Nella, earnestly requesting her to let him in. He also tells her that there was something important that he wanted to share with her and it was not about their relationship. But, Nella, who is on a trip of her own, refuses to listen to even a single word of him and does not let him in.

A couple of days later, she gets to know that Joe has gone missing. At first, she rubs it off, but, when she realises the gravity of the situation, she starts searching the length and the breath of the city. Even though reluctant at first, Nella lands up calling Shonali, who then tells her an extremely confidential secret about Joe, which really shocks the daylights out of Nella.

What was the secret that Shonali knew about Joe but Nella was unaware, are there any foul play involved behind the sudden missing of Joe, what was it that Joe was desperate to tell Nella, what ultimately happens to Joe is what forms the rest of the gripping cyber thriller.

First things first. Full marks to Vikramaditya Motwane and team for having come up with such an unexplored territorial subject that is so very relevant to today’s generation. Right from the word g, CTRL will really have you and your attention in its ‘control’. Credit for this totally goes to Vikramaditya Motwane, Avinash Sampath and Sumukhi Suresh, the trio who formed the writers’ team! As for the direction of the film, even though it is an extremely relevant topic of today, there are a few places where the direction becomes shaky. One can places which are clear examples of cinematic liberties, which could have been ironed out smoothly.

There are not too many things which do not work in the film’s favour, as it’s a catch 22 situation. Even though the film appeals majorly to the younger generation who have made social media as their second home and the ‘virtual friends’ as their go-to people as their emotional anchor, the film also could have broadened its vision touching upon the elders as well.

As for the performances, no prizes for guessing that it’s an out and out Ananya Panday show all the way! Right from her college days till the end scene (revealing anything further will be acting as spoilers), she has your undivided attention! It seems that the role was tailor made for Ananya Panday and vice versa! Even though she struggles in a few places, but, she more than makes up as the film progresses!

Coming to a close second is Vihaan Samaat, who was also her co-star in Call Me Bae. A couple of more films of them together, this couple will just become the SRK-Kajol jodi of the Gen-Z generation! The on-screen chemistry that the two share is almost flawless as they both complement each other effortlessly and seamlessly. Even though he was not visible on screen, but full marks to Aparshakti Khurana for being the voice of Allen.

A special mention to Pratik Shah for the outstanding cinematography, which really infuses ‘life’ into this virtual storyline. On the other hand, the film’s editing (Jahaan Noble) did require a bit of trimming, which definitely could have helped the film in a big way. Even though there is no great scope for music in this film, the one track that really stands out is that of ‘Cut Cut Cut’ by Yashraj Mukhate.  Also, the film’s background is definitely effective and merges seamlessly with the film and its gripping narrative.

All in all, CTRL is definitely a film for the young and young at heart who have become slaves to the world of social media and also for those who live in a virtual world and hence, require a much needed reality check!

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