RangiTaranga


RangiTaranga is a 2015 Indian Kannada language mystery thriller film written and directed by Anup Bhandari in his debut, and produced by H.K.Prakash under the Production house Shree Devi Entertainers. It features debutantes Nirup Bhandari, Radhika Chetan and Avantika Shetty, and Saikumar in the lead roles. Anup Bhandari said that in writing story for the film, he took inspiration from "Dennana Dennana", a track that featured as the theme song in the 1990s Kannada television soap Guddada Bhoota. In addition to directing the film, Bhandari also scored for its soundtrack, also penning its lyrics. It featured cinematography by US-based cinematographers Lance Kaplan and William David, the former of who, had previously collaborated with Bhandari on a short film.
RangiTaranga is set in Kamarottu, a fictional village in the Tulunadu region of Karnataka, as Indu's ancestral village. Her husband Gautam and she decide to perform a ritual to ward off evil spirits. The story follows Gautam uncovering a mysterious trail of crime on finding his wife missing and the final discovery of the criminal. Parts of filming took place in Mysore, Bangalore, Madikeri, Puttur, Sira, Ottapalam, Alappuzha and Ooty. Upon theatrical release on 3 July 2015, the film opened to overwhelmingly positive response from audiences and critics alike. Critics acclaimed the film's screenplay, direction, film score, cinematography and the acting performance of Saikumar. The film made it into the list of productions eligible for the 88th Academy Awards but did not make it into nomination list.

Plot

Gautam, a novelist leads a reclusive life in Ooty. Gautam's latest novel is titled RangiTaranga, a word which might hold the key to his past. Indu, Gautam's wife, is a soft natured girl. She paints the cover pages of all of Gautam's novels. Sandhya, a self-proclaimed journalist, is in search of an anonymous writer who goes by the pen name "ANASHKU". She finds out about the writer from a publisher and sets on a journey to find him.
Pregnant Indu finds herself in trouble when she repetitively gets nightmares of an accident. She then convinces Gautam to visit her ancestral home in the village of Kamarottu in order to perform some rituals to solve her problems. Upon their arrival in Kamarottu, Gautam befriends the post master, Kalinga, and the elderly school head master, Shankar. During their stay in the village, Indu experiences strange occurrences in the house including an incident where Indu is almost pulled into a well while she is fetching a bucket of water. This provokes Gautam to investigate and he learns from Kalinga that the well contains a Brahmarakshasa and also that the Kamarottu home was haunted by a ghost. Gautam's investigation also irks the powerful men in the village and on one occasion, one of the henchmen of a powerful politician attacks Goutham leaving him injured. Meanwhile, Sandhya's trail leads her to Kamarottu. Indu goes missing one night and later police declare that she was indeed killed 6 years ago in an accident. Confused Gowtham starts searching for her and discovers an illegal sand mafia led by the corrupt politician Mahabala Hegde along with the local police which leads him to conclude that their attack on him was merely to cover up their illegal activity.
Sandhya meets Gautham during the investigation of his wife's disappearance and helps him in discovering a diary titled "Harini". Through this diary, Gautham discovers that the woman who he believed to be his wife Indu, was actually Harini, a yoga instructor from Bangalore, and that he himself is not Gautham. Indu and her husband Gautham were in reality Harini's friends. Harini, in an impulsive action fueled by fear, killed a man who got abusive and threatening after she spurned his physical advances. Horrified by the realization that she has killed and terrified by the prospect of legal repercussions, she confides in Indu and Gautham, who decide to take her to Kamarottu and create an alibi for Harini. A flashback reveals to the viewer that Gautham was actually Siddarth, an aspiring writer/singer who was in love with Sandhya. Telling her that he'll be back soon, Siddarth leaves for a bike trip with his college pals. Under a thick blanket of fog, Siddharth and his friend on a motorbike collide with the car carrying Indu, Gautham and Harini, near the Kamarottu junction. The accident leaves Harini, and Siddharth, who's lost his memory, as the sole survivors of the accident. Harini, reluctant to go back to her previous life assumes the identity of her dead friend Indu, and informs authorities, and Siddharth, that he is her husband Gautham. Siddharth, with nothing else to go on, accepts this as the truth.
Siddarth and Sandhya infiltrate the police station and search the records where they get to know about a missing persons case where a lady goes missing on the same day every year. When they check with their families they get to know that the missing lady is pregnant similar to Harini and that the guddada bhoota is responsible for the abductions. After getting info from the head master and the local doctor they conclude that Kalinga is the guddada bhoota and is responsible for the abductions. Kalinga's wife had an extramarital relationship with the local doctor and when she gets caught she does not reveal doctor's identity and Kalinga thinks that Angara a mentally ill guy from the village as the other guy and kills him. He tortures his wife for eleven days in an abandoned house and later kills her. After this incident he is mentally tormented and does the killing every year on the same day. Siddarth is able to track Kalinga and he saves Harini after overpowering Kalinga. Later Harini gives birth and Sandhya wishes him luck and tells him that he's probably better off not trying to rake up his past. She leaves without revealing her relationship with Siddharth, or his true identity, nursing a broken heart.

Cast

The movie made by debutantes has raised expectations among Kannada audience because of its cinematography by Hollywood D.O.P Lance Kaplan and D.O.P William David.
Rangitaranga has brought Lance — whose recent films include Butterflies of Bill Baker, Trapped Girl, and Do You Believe in the Devil — to India to shoot for a project in a language he hadn’t even heard. "I had a translation of the script, and Anup and I spent weeks on the pre-production," he says. "Anup’s father, Sudhakar patiently taught me many Kannada words and phrases. "This reflects the tradition of lighting that I come from and love, and I think it’s one of the reasons why Anup wanted me to work on his film."

Trivia

scored the film's background music and Anup Bhandari composed for its soundtrack, also writing lyrics for all but one track. The soundtrack album consists of 10 tracks, featuring a flute bit of the track "Dennana Dennana", a karaoke of "Akka Pakka" and a dialogue bit "Ashu Kavi Kalinga" mouthed by Saikumar. The track "Dennana Dennana" which has its lyrics in Tulu was the theme song of the Kannada soap opera Guddada Bhootha that was first aired on DD Chandana in the 1990s and re-telecast on Zee Kannada between 2013 and 2014. It was used in the film after rights were given to Bhandari by its lyricist Sadananda Suvarna. The album was released on 14 March 2015 in Bangalore.

Critics review

The critics received the album well and noted for its non-usage of words from the English and Hindi languages in its tracks, which was the hitherto trend.

Release and reception

The film was given the "U/A" certificate by the Regional Censor Board. It was released theatrically in theatres across Karnataka on 3 July 2015. Upon release, the film met with universal critical acclaim, who acclaimed the film's screenplay, film score, cinematography and the acting performance of Saikumar. After a tremendous response at the domestic market, the film was released in Germany on 1 August 2015, followed by the Netherlands and Ireland. Following this it was released in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Norway, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Malaysia and Denmark among other countries.
Reviewing the film for The Hindu, Archana Nathan calling the film "well-made thriller" credited the performance of all lead actors and the cinematography, and wrote, "The director also successfully captures the flavour of the region and gets the essence and accent of the language right." A. Sharadhaa of The New Indian Express described the film as "beautiful, chilling and bold" and wrote, "The film steeped in the strong ethos of a bygone culture, is beautifully etched and well enacted by newcomers. Anup’s storyline does not differentiate between the shades of good and evil. The journey exposes secrets but does not lose its balance. The director has showcased his understanding of horror, friendship, revenge and forgiveness, well." Writing for Deccan Herald, S. Viswanath called the film "n eerie romantic thriller". On the cinematography, he wrote, "... Lance Kaplan and William David capture the verdant and scenic vicissitudes of mountainous ravines and quietly flowing rivers of coastal Mangaluru, as also the famous tea gardens and hills of Ooty." He concluded acclaiming the screenplay and the film's music.
Sunayana Suresh of The Times of India rated the film 3/5 and wrote, " visually breath-taking and packed with a lot of punch, be it in both the acting and the technical departments." Crediting the acting performance of Saikumar, she added, "The other highlights of the film apart from Anup's writing are his music and lyrics. The songs are catchy, though they seem a tad too many in the second half. B Ajaneesh Lokanath's background score is on par with some of the best global thrillers, as is the cinematography by Lance Kaplan and William David." Having rated the film 3.5/5 Shyam Prasad S. of Bangalore Mirror felt that the film was "a very good attempt and packs enough thrills". He, however, felt that it lacked pace with the songs and these few scenes dragging the film through. He concluded writing, "The cinematography makes the film look like a live presentation rather than something happening on the screen. The background music is equally apt and very well ingrained into the film" and highlighted the acting performance of Saikumar. Shashiprasad S. M. of Deccan Chronicle rated the film 3/5 and wrote, "the director makes an impressive debut with this good suspense thriller. Anup Bhandari who has penned the script has showcased a realistic and scary experience for the audience." He highlighted the cinematography and songs in the film, and criticized its slow pace and editing.

Box office

With medium occupancy at theatres in Karnataka on the first three days after theatrical release, it gradually improved and registered 100% in many theatres following good reviews by audiences and word-of-mouth marketing. Following the first week of release, the film performed very well at the domestic box office. At the end of its 50 days from release, it had collected more than 9 Cr in Karnataka alone.

Overseas

It performed strongly in the United States upon release on 14 August in 36 screens. It collected US$200,802, which trade analyst Taran Adarsh called an "Excellent start". The second day collections of US$75,000 was more than that of any Indian film there. By the end of the first weekend of the three-day run, it managed to break the lifetime records set by all previous Kannada films in the United States and became the highest grosser. In the process, RangiTaranga also became the first Kannada film to make it to the weekend box office list of The New York Times. By the end of September, it became the first Kannada film to complete a 50 days run in the US, and collected.

Awards and nominations