'Naked', running into just 23 minutes, has been claimed to be a big hit by Ram Gopal Varma. Made at a cost of not more than Rs 3 lakh, this film has been capitalizing on the selling power of skin show and voyeurism through the pay-per-view model. Let's see what the short film holds.
Story
A male servant, barely out of his teens, has sexual feelings for his female employer (newcomer Sweety). When he sees her without a dress on her body, his sexual urges come gushing out. But this might have unexpected consequences for him. What are they? That's the climax of 'Naked'.
Performances
This is the kind of film where the camera doesn't focus much on the faces. We get to see Sweety's luscious body more than her face. Even so, let's take the pain of critiquing her. She looks good and might surprise the audience in decent roles in mainstream family entertainers one day (who knows?). The young boy is good enough.
Technical aspects
We are tempted to do an LOL but since people take the camera angles in RGV's movies way too seriously, let's make a comment. The cinematographer deserves to serve as a faculty member at the Institute of Voyeurism, RGV World. The background score is generic.
Plus Points
Short run-time. Imagine how many minutes you would have wasted if it was 45-minutes or one-hour long!
Minus Points
First 10 minutes. Second 10 minutes. Last 3 minutes.
We never understand what Sweety's character is even thinking. The shocker in the climax is a been-there-done-that moment. RGV tops the short film with a pompous message, saying that every emotion is naked, making us wonder what emotions the film deals with in the first place. Infidelity is not an emotion, deception is not an emotion, greed is a vice and not an emotion.
Analysis
Judging 'Naked' with seriousness is impossible. RGV has invented a marketing tool because he knows only he can afford to manufacture crap and call it James Cameroon-esque (yes, he has done it in one of his recent tweets). If he is minting money thanks to 'Naked', good for him. But he would hardly be leaving a legacy. If he wants to show something substantial in the world of OTT, he should take a leaf out of the Bollywood filmmakers and writers who are bringing out experimental movies on Netflix and Amazon and the like.
