Language: Kannada
Director : Hemanth M. Rao
Writer : Hemanth M. Rao
Cast : Suman Ranganath, Anant Nag, Nakshatra.
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller.
Also known as Crossroads (2019).
Streaming on Amazon Prime.
Kavaludaari is a neo-noir thriller film written and directed by Hemanth Rao. It was produced by Kannada superstar Puneeth Rajkumar’s wife Ashwini and this was the first movie from her production banner. After KGF, Sandalwood is getting pan-Indian attention. So the Industry is careful about its exposure and it is really pleasing to see veteran actor Puneeth coming up with his own production house to promote quality films.
Over to the film, it is a well-crafted film which brightens its genre. It is the story of a Traffic Policeman Shyam, who aspires to become a crime branch officer through promotion. But his senior officers ignore him and they dispel him from their vicinity. Owing to his profession, all the marriage proposals he receives are also getting rejected. Then one day the police fish out some skeleton from the city where Shyam works. They avoid investigating it further, bury it and warn Shyam not to go behind that case. But it fascinates Shyam and he tries to find out its backstory. For that, he seeks help from a former inspector. His investigations and the developments form the rest of the story. The film has a strong script and the hero stands out with his performance. The film never fails to thrill the audience even though it lacked pace at times. Emotions play a big role during the second half of the film. Director has done his role very well but there were some sequences that could have been avoided. Cinematography is excellent especially lighting and colouring of the flashback scenes were perfect. Music and background scores were minimal and good.
Rishi who has acted as Shyam did his job perfectly. The way he reacts to the rejections shows his strong character and he is undoubtedly one of the most talented youngsters in the industry. Anant Nag, KGF fame, also gave a notable performance. Puneeth Rajkumar revealed that the film is being remade in Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam. Overall a well-crafted film which is worth a watch.
Verdict- 6/7 stars.
Brilliant.
