It is a subject that is widely talked about and criticized by many as glorified in Indian cinema. What happens when a man is obsessed with a woman in the name of love, and it turns into stalking? And does the chase turn deadly?
Malayalam web series the eyesDirected by Manu Ashokan and written by Bobby-Sanjay, it tries to answer these questions through a crime thriller that examines the dangerous consequences of stalking, toxic love and refusal to accept rejection.
Streaming on Sony Live, the web series features seven episodes where we see police officers and psychologists team up to develop an app. the eyes To stop fatal chases and killings. The premise is interesting because it raises questions about whether technology and psychological interventions can help predict such violent behavior before it’s too late.
The series examines four cases: Milan (Vasu Bose), a photographer infatuated with actress Ritika (Anagha); A supermarket worker (Athira Patel) falls into a toxic relationship with her boyfriend (Athi); An IAS officer, Sajin (Dev Mohan) and his wife, Shobita (Sania Ayyappan), daughter of a politician; and a couple (Parvathy K. Krishna and Anand Manamandhan) who run away, only to find themselves trapped in a difficult relationship. Each case explores a different aspect of obsession, stalking, control and toxic relationships. While the first case deals with a man mistaking infatuation for love and acting on it, the other cases delve deeper into the complexities of abusive relationships.
What director Manu Ashokan has tried to do is go beyond mere stalking and present the psychological and social factors that allow such behavior to flourish. This is especially important because stalking and possessiveness are often misrepresented as expressions of romantic love in our society. The idea that a man who refuses to take no for an answer is only being ‘permanent’ is challenged, and Eyes makes it clear to the audience that passion is not love or romance and that rejection is never a reason for revenge.
However, the web series is not without its drawbacks. At 50-odd minutes per episode and over seven episodes, Eyes takes its time to grow on you – and feels unnecessarily drawn out – and given that the pacing is uneven, it dilutes the urgency needed in a thriller. The director has tried to portray different social settings with each case, from celebrities and the workplace to marriage and the relationship forged through emotional dependency. But some cases are more compelling than others, and some narrative events could have been explored more deeply.
For example, the case of Sajin and Shobita, an IAS officer, is psychologically complex and adds a twist to our initial assumptions, while Milan’s story is fairly textbook, offering little innovation to the audience. What the Eyes app has to offer is interesting, but the use of technology, especially in the age of AI, is not fully explored. Technology can help flag threatening behavior, track reported incidents and identify patterns of escalation, but predicting whether someone will become violent is much more complex. While the series has a compelling premise and a relevant message, it doesn’t always translate its ideas into a consistently gripping thriller over seven episodes.
The performances are a major asset to the series, and they help elevate the episodes. Kani Kusruti brings a tough, down-to-earth authority to police officer Tina, while Nikhila Vimal is poised and determined as psychotic Ayesha. Shruti Ramachandran lends credibility to Vidya, the app’s developer and Prabhu Muralikrishnan, who assembles the team of psychologists and cops, adds warmth as Justin. Dev Mohan, as the manipulative IAS officer, also leaves his unique stamp on the character. Veteran actor Jaafar Idukki, who plays Mohanan, is impressive as he shows us that he is playing a morally challenged character who is venomous and dangerous in equal measure.
Director Manu Ashokan has given us a series that is driven by women, and it is refreshing. The women in Eyes are not just victims around whom the plot revolves, but also explorers, psychologists, and individuals navigating complex personal relationships, and that’s what draws us in. Eyes calls stalking for it—a dangerous expression of passion and entitlement, rather than an expression of love.
It reminds men that refusing to accept rejection can have disastrous consequences. The fact that the story is developed by a woman – Anjana Nair – brings a female perspective to this toxic world. Bobby and Sanjay wrote the series, which falls short at times – the series raises awareness and questions the romanticization of stalking and ownership, but the four cases are not consistent in their impact. Overall, Eyes speaks to an important aspect of society and makes viewers reflect on the attitudes and power dynamics that enable stalking and toxic love.