One of the Finest Kannada Crime Thrillers - A Well-Crafted Storytelling Experience

A BIT OF GOOD DRAMA, A BIT OFF THE BEATEN PATH!

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Paavana Gowda

Ravishankar Gowda

Sharath Lohitashwa

Krishna Raj

In 1997, a rural police inspector leads a simple life until a crime occurs at his quiet village outpost after 25 years. His investigation uncovers long-buried secrets in the town.

Janardhan Chikkanna

Agnyathavasi

Walked into an empty theatre for &quot;Agnyathavasi&quot;-just me, my popcorn, and approximately 100 empty seats. Felt appropriate, honestly. This is a film that breathes sighs, with fractured timelines and Malnad mist. It was quiet-strikingly so for this genre. No bombast, no gratuitous violence, just Thai New Wave restraint with a hint of South American cop drama simmering beneath. And then there&apos;s our main lead, Actor Raghu, he totally carries this flick. Without him, it&apos;d be all atmosphere and no pulse.

But here&apos;s the kicker: you&apos;ve seen this plot before. The cliches pile up, feeling a bit dusty, much like the police station in the film. So yeah, nothing&apos;s exactly wrong, but the screenplay just needed more punch. Of course, the film wants to make guilt simmer, and we get the point-the title is apt-but it stretches thin, losing its grip. There&apos;s also a song that drops out of nowhere, the concept was good, but it was a major mood killer because it lightened the narrative, settling for something safe. Those shades of grey, those tough moral calls, they could&apos;ve hit harder, lingered longer, really making you feel it. Instead, Janardhan Chikkanna hedges his bets: half-arthouse melancholy, half-mainstream concession. (The same fate as &quot;Roopanthara&quot;, another Kannada film I reviewed, which faced a similar dilemma.)

The whole chicken and computer angle felt a tad too convenient, a bit of a deus-ex machina. While it&apos;s meant to bridge the distance between characters and resolve things, it ultimately led to a predictable widening of relationships. And again, the clichés kept piling up, right to the very end, making the outcome easy to foresee. But yes, some shots were staged interestingly, which conveyed more than meets the eye.

Strangely, while watching, I couldn&apos;t help but draw parallels to &apos;Whaler Boy&quot;, a brilliant film where the arrival of the internet fundamentally alters the village. (I wrote about that one too, if you&apos;re curious; it&apos;s on IMDb.)

In closing, go in with low expectations. The cinematography does capture the stark, secretive landscape beautifully. But do watch out for Rangayana Raghu; he truly stands out. He embodies the alienation and guilt, trapped in his own personal melodrama that festers within him until the very end.

Trailer [OV]

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYzFlNmI0ZDMtYmFmYy00M2NmLTliODctYjlkNDU5ZjM5YjE1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXRyYW5zY29kZS13b3JrZmxvdw@@._V1_.jpg

Walked into an empty theatre for "Agnyathavasi"-just me, my popcorn, and approximately 100 empty seats. Felt appropriate, honestly. This is a film that breathes sighs, with fractured timelines and Malnad mist. It was quiet-strikingly so for this genre. No bombast, no gratuitous violence, just Thai New Wave restraint with a hint of South American cop drama simmering beneath. And then there's our main lead, Actor Raghu, he totally carries this flick. Without him, it'd be all atmosphere and no pulse.

But here's the kicker: you've seen this plot before. The cliches pile up, feeling a bit dusty, much like the police station in the film. So yeah, nothing's exactly wrong, but the screenplay just needed more punch. Of course, the film wants to make guilt simmer, and we get the point-the title is apt-but it stretches thin, losing its grip. There's also a song that drops out of nowhere, the concept was good, but it was a major mood killer because it lightened the narrative, settling for something safe. Those shades of grey, those tough moral calls, they could've hit harder, lingered longer, really making you feel it. Instead, Janardhan Chikkanna hedges his bets: half-arthouse melancholy, half-mainstream concession. (The same fate as "Roopanthara", another Kannada film I reviewed, which faced a similar dilemma.)

The whole chicken and computer angle felt a tad too convenient, a bit of a deus-ex machina. While it's meant to bridge the distance between characters and resolve things, it ultimately led to a predictable widening of relationships. And again, the clichés kept piling up, right to the very end, making the outcome easy to foresee. But yes, some shots were staged interestingly, which conveyed more than meets the eye.

Strangely, while watching, I couldn't help but draw parallels to 'Whaler Boy", a brilliant film where the arrival of the internet fundamentally alters the village. (I wrote about that one too, if you're curious; it's on IMDb.)

In closing, go in with low expectations. The cinematography does capture the stark, secretive landscape beautifully. But do watch out for Rangayana Raghu; he truly stands out. He embodies the alienation and guilt, trapped in his own personal melodrama that festers within him until the very end.

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