'NET', starring Rahul Ramakrishna and others, is streaming currently on ZEE5. Here is our review of the web film.

Priya (Avika Gor) and Ranjith (Vishwadev Rachakonda) are a young couple who live in a gated community complex. Their bedroom moments are being watched by Lakshman (Rahul Ramakrishna), a subscriber to a spying website. He is a poor businessman who is spending money like water to satisfy his voyeuristic thirst. His wife Suchitra (Praneeta Patnaik) starts suspecting that her hubby is out of gear.

The rest of the film is about what happens when Lakshman's voyeurism becomes too difficult to handle.

Here is finally a film that suggests that the fascination that some men have for better-looking women can lead to perversions. In 'NET', the perversion takes the form of not just voyeurism but also a sinful breach of privacy. In telling a story of uncanny dark web-like terror, director Bhargav Macharla makes the audience believe that the dystopian reality can happen to anybody. To this extent, the 90-minute film is in the zone of 'Abhimanyudu', the Vishal-starrer that narrated the pitfalls of smartphone technology.

The focus of 'NET' remains on the voyeur and the victim. The victim is facing a double whammy. The story would have been unnecessarily complicated and dense had the role of the middlemen facilitating the transmission of private moments from the bedroom to the voyeurs through subscription-based spying websites become a part of the drama. No one has to become a hero. No one has to take on them. There is no law-enforcement agency trying to nab them.

The music by Naresh Kumaran is surely apt. It lets the drama become strong in terms of aural quality in the climax. The cinematography by Abhiraj Nair is another plus.

What is remarkable is that 'NET' knows its audience. It probably wouldn't have suited a theatrical release, for the Telugu audience are not like the Malayalam audience to expect only the conflicts and not the thrills associated with an investigative procedural. A 150-minute film would have diluted the very uniqueness of 'NET'.

The performances are noteworthy. While Priyadarshi has got the likes of 'Unheard' and 'In The Name Of God' on OTT, Rahul Ramakrishna too needed a script to show off his talent. 'NET' came as the answer. Avika Gor is not in a commercial role and that's commendable. Vishnu Oi plays the male protagonist's relative.

Verdict:

'NET' is a fairly gripping drama and thriller.