Kshanam

Ravikanth Perepu's 2016 Telugu film follows Rishi, a banker who returns to India on learning that his former girlfriend's daughter has disappeared. The problem is that there is no such child in the police records and no document showing the woman ever had a daughter. The film's strength is holding the viewer in the same uncertainty as Rishi: is she lying, or is something being covered up. It runs under ninety minutes and no scene is wasted; a thriller built this tightly was unusual in Telugu cinema at the time. Adivi Sesh leads and co-wrote it. The explanatory section over-explains a little. Who it's for: viewers who like Telugu thrillers and tightly built detective stories. Who it's not for: anyone wanting a long narrative, or avoiding the subject of a child being abducted.