‘Blindfold:’ First Malayalam film based purely on sound, not visuals, pushes limits of conventional movie making

Gulf Today Report

The nation which churns out the world’s largest number of films has again set a new milestone in movie making. A Malayalam film has made its way into the record books by being India’s first ever audio cinema – there are no visuals, only sounds as it charts out the thriller plot involving a blind man Rajan, a lottery seller, who is a ‘witness’ to, or rather ‘hears’ a murder.

"Blindfold", helmed by creative designer Binoy Karamen, is a pathbreaking film which uses sound as the main storytelling device, thereby pushing the envelope of conventional filmmaking.

"The medium of cinema is visual. But ‘Blindfold’ does not have any visuals,” said Karamen. But this does not crimp the joys of enjoying the cinematic experience. “This project has been the result of my thinking and research for the past 11 years. It has always fascinated me how different elements of a movie affect the viewer's senses," he added.

The viewer can only mine the depth of sound to stimulate his imagination. It focuses more on sight than on sound. It helps the cinegoer navigate the storyline through sound design and music.

Blindfold will help “understand the importance of inner voices more than our sights", added Karamen.

"It was indeed a very new concept and I was really impressed with Karamen's perspective on movies. It has a vision to give the viewers a fresh and exciting audio experience at the cinema,” said Shyjal Shameem Ahmed, Executive Producer of Blindfold.