Ulidavaru Kandanthe

Ulidavaru Kandante
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Rakshit Shetty
Produced by	Hemanth Suni Abhi
Written by	Rakshit Shetty
Starring	Rakshit Shetty Kishore Tara Sheethal Shetty Rishab Shetty Achyuth Kumar Yagna Shetty
Music by	B. Ajaneesh Loknath
Cinematography	Karm Chawla
Edited by	Sachin
Production company	Suvin Cinemas
Release dates	28 March 2014 (2014-03-28)
Running time	154 minutes
Country	India
Language	Kannada
Budget	₹2.7 crore (US$400,000)[1]

Ulidavaru Kandante (Kannada: ಉಳಿದವರು ಕಂಡಂತೆ; English: As Seen by the Rest) is a 2014 Indian Kannada neo-noir crime-drama film written and directed by debutant Rakshit Shetty. Shetty appears in the lead role, along with Kishore, Tara, Achyuth Kumar, Rishab Shetty, and Yagna Shetty playing supporting roles.^[2] The film involves an anthology of five stories connected to an incident of a person's murder, with the each character narrating it in their own perspective, the plot of which drew comparisons to the Japanese classic film, Rashomon (1950).^[3][4]

The film was geared up to be sent to the Cannes Film Festival,^[5] and released on 28 March 2014, to generally positive reviews from film critics who acclaimed the direction, performances of Rakshit Shetty and Sheetal Shetty, and cinematography. The film was the first in Kannada to be shot entirely in sync sound technology.^[6] The film is being remade in Tamil and Malayalam simultaneously starring Nivin Pauly as Santa Maria.^[7][8]

Plot

Malpe, a small fishing town on the Arabian Coast. Located 6 km to the west of the temple city, Udupi. Malpe's beaches are washed clean everyday by the sea. The waves ensure that nothing gets left behind on the sands. But then, the waves cannot reach everything....

It is the time of the year when Udupi and its surroundings are decked up to celebrate Sri Krishna Janmaashtami. Men and children walk the streets dressed up as characters from mythology. Teams painted as tigers are seen dancing to drum beats all around the town. But violence seems to be brewing in Malpe this Krishna Janmaashtami.

Cast

• Rakshit Shetty as Richard "Richi" Anthony
• Kishore as Munna
• Tara as Ratnakka
• Achyuth Kumar (credited as Achyuth Rao) as Balu
• Rishab Shetty as Raghu
• Sheethal Shetty as Regina
• Yagna Shetty as Sharada
• Dinesh Mangalore as Shankar Poojary
• B. Suresh
• Gowrish Akki
• Pramod Shetty
• Raghu Pandeshwar
• Arun Prakash Shetty
• Master Sohan as Democracy
• Master Akshay
• Master Lohith
• Baby Kavya

Production

In an interview during the production of Ulidavaru Kandante, Rakshit Shetty said, "For UK, I want to create an experience that would last for generations to come. I will be more than happy if my movie keeps running in people’s hearts." ^[9]

Development

The production of Ulidavaru Kandante was started on 1 August 2013. ^[10]

Marketing

The trailer of the movie was published on YouTube on 6 December 2013.^[11] It garnered 44,618 views within 48 hours of its launch, breaking the previous record for a Kannada film trailer set by Simple Agi Ondh Love Story. The trailer was also released in theatres by Kannada actor Puneet Rajkumar, at the Triveni theatre, Bangalore the next day.^[12][13] Loose Maada Yogesh said he is ready to postpone his next movie for Ulidavaru Kandante.^[14]

The film maintains a presence on Facebook^[15] and Twitter,^[16] where they solicit memes and invite users to take turns at guessing the nature of film's MacGuffin. Director Rakshit Shetty, busied himself after the release of the trailer, in the design of customisable T-shirts to promote the movie, and also as a vehicle to bring out more popular dialogues to build public anticipation and the fan-base prior to release. This was motivated by the favourable response to scenes depicted in the trailer, as well as some of the lines delivered by the characters.

The team also plan to release video screensavers, and curate blog posts of the audience's reactions after release. Shetty explains that this social engagement - inviting viewer and fan perspectives on the subject - is a natural extension of the thematic subject of the film itself.^[17]

Sify.com reports Ulidavaru Kandante as a "wave of freshness".^[18]

Soundtrack

Ulidavaru Kandanthe
Soundtrack cover
Soundtrack album by B. Ajaneesh Loknath
Released	4 February 2014
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	45:40
Language	Kannada
Label	Anand Audio
B. Ajaneesh Loknath chronology
Nan Life Alli (2014) Ulidavaru Kandanthe (2014)

B. Ajaneesh Loknath composed the background score for the film and the music for the soundtrack. The album has twelve tracks.^[19]

Critical reception

Kavya Christopher of The Times of India reviewed the album, gave it a four star rating, and wrote, "The songs of Ulidavaru Kandante do not conform to idea of commercial hit numbers and that in itself sets them apart from the rest. They are absolutely local in the sense that they capture the situation and mood of the storyline or situation in the most rustic way possible." She concluded, "This is one music album that is a must-listen, again and again."^[20]

Release and reception

The film was given the "U/A" (Parental Guidance) certificate by the Regional Censor Board. The scene that was censored was that of a cockfight sequence and the use of abusive words muted. Apart from this, the number of smoking scenes were asked to be cut down.^[21] Following this, the film was released on 28 March 2014, in over 100 theatres across Karnataka, simultaneously releasing in theatres in the United States, and New Zealand.^[22]

Screenings

The film was screened in June 2014 at the London Indian Film Festival (LIFF) where it received positive response from the audience, and it was called one of the best Indian films to have been made at the time. LIFF rated the film calling it a "dazzling epic".^[23][24] The film was screened in Leverkusen, Germany on 18 May 2014.^[25] It was announced in August 2014 that the film would be screened at the Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas in September 2014.^[26]

Critical reception

Upon release, the film received positive to mixed reviews from critics. Shyam Prasad S. of the Bangalore Mirror reviewed the film and drew comparisons to Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon (1950), which has a similar plot. He added, "The film strives hard to become a 'cult' film, but it falls short somewhere during its journey." He, however praised the role of direction and acting departments in the film, and appreciated the director for brilliantly capturing the culture of Mangalore and the surrounding areas.^[27] B. S. Srivani of Deccan Herald rated the film 3/5 and praised the cinematography, music and writes about the "fine effort by a debutant [director]."^[3]

Box office

Ulidavaru Kandante opened to a good collection of around ₹2 crore (US$300,000) in its first week from release. Collections dropped in the second week and it was declared an average grosser at the box office.

Awards

References

External links

• Official website
• Ulidavaru Kandante at the Internet Movie Database