‘Footage’ review: Curiosity leads to voyeurism and then peril for a vlogger couple

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...

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