‘Logout’ movie review: Babil Khan anchors cyberstalking thriller 

Babil Khan in ‘Logout’.
| Photo Credit: Zee5/YouTube

To promote his film Logout, a cautionary tale about smartphone addiction and the perils of online fame, Babil Khan turned to Instagram, posting a ‘cryptic post’ before deleting it—an all-too-common marketing ploy. It’s one of the self-defeating ironies of the genre. Bollywood—and streaming platforms—are in no position to preach. They depend as much on social media as the nervy, shut-in influencers they depict. They bait, patronise and actively profiteer from the same economy. And like everyone else, they collect data.

Directed by Amit Golani and written by Biswapati Sarkar, Logout is best approached as a campy thriller than a revelatory tech satire. Pratyush (Babil) is a young content creator living by himself in a big city. He’s amassed substantial clout making silly sketches on YouTube, viral trash where he assumes both the male and female roles, like an actor in the early days of silent film. He’s close to clocking 10 million followers—a major brand deal hinges on this milestone—but he wouldn’t stoop to any level, or so he thinks. His competitors are the real bottom-feeders. Literally: sliding down their boxers and twerking before the camera for hits.

One night, Pratyush’s phone gets stolen. He wakes the next morning from a blackout, recalling nothing. He lumbers around his large apartment. His computer blinks. Via an app, he’s contacted by a girl—or a girl’s voice—who offers to help. She talks calmly and respectfully before turning overly solicitous, urging Pratyush to address her as ‘tum’, a sinister edge in her voice. Desperate to retrieve his phone and personal data, he shares an OTP with her. And that’s it.

Logout can be classed as a screenlife thriller—though not entirely. The camera roams more freely and conventionally than in CTRL and LSD 2. The editing, by Atanu Mukherjee, is fluent without being flashy. The symbolism about privacy and digital entrapment is laid on thick—we see a mouse caught in a trap. Now and then, there are flickers of cleverness. In a smart scene, Pratyush, whose entire boy cave is tricked out with fancy gadgetry, has to recall a number from memory and punch it into a landline. Anybody remember those?

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Babil Khan has shown spark in whatever he’s been in so far. He seems most comfortable playing his age and social milieu. He’s handy with quick shifts in emotion — panic, desperation, rage, paranoia. And it must take great faith and self-assurance to mouth a line like, “I know I am an asshole, but I am not the kind of asshole who will ever hurt you.” The ending jumps the shark, faux-sincere and laughable. It has a lurid streak that seems to endorse, not contradict, Pratyush’s mantra: make them notice you.

Logout is currently streaming on ZEE5