Apart from an unconvincing finale, Agnyathavasi, in Kannada, directed by Janardhan Chikkanna in his third outing as a feature director, is everything that cinema should be: original, thought-provoking and most importantly, challenging the status quo, both within and outside the cinematic universe.
The setting is an idyllic disturbingly tranquil village in Karnataka where nothing happens. The police station is nearly-defunct. No crime. What’s there to steal?! Who’s there to kill?
Director Chikkanna takes some time to get to the point. The slow-burn approach in what purports to be a Shakespearean crime drama involving among other things, a long-distance relationship, the “evil” advent of the computer era (the film is set in the 1990s) and matricide, is a bit of a damper.
I mean, we want to see the characters grow, not groan, when there is so much in store for them.
Ironically, I found the principal character of a fossilized cop Govindu (Rangayana Raghu) to be the most uneasily written. It is clear the cop is hiding something terrible from the village. The cops in his jurisdiction whisper and snigger against his back. When we first meet the cop he is mourning on his mother’s twenty-fifth death anniversary.
The tonal shifts especially in the first forty five minutes, are distracting and incongruous. Some characters’ presence, for example the old woman Achimma on crutches who hangs around the police station, is not justified. She needed help.
It is only when the love story kicks in that the director gathers his wits and harnesses his creative energy into a tell-able tale of desperate love. Paavana Gowda as Pankaja an abandoned lover-girl willing to go to any lengths to get her love back, is a prized find, though admittedly a tad too glamorous for the rustic part. But she is an interesting blend of seduction and innocence.
Siddu Moolimani as Rohit, who becomes the medium between Pankaja and her fugitive love, is just right as the first computer geek in a village which is unwilling to come to terms with the new technology knocking at the door.
The plot would have done well for itself had it restricted its spatial harmony to the love story. The parenthetical beginning and ending takes the sting away considerably from the narrative heft. However, what remains is persuasive enough to applaud the endeavour.
I am not surprised Hemant Rao, the director of the stunning Sapta Sagaradaache, is a producer on this one. Agnyathavasi takes Kannada cinema a notch ahead. But be warned: you may not want chicken for your meal after watching this for a while.
