Ulidavaru Kandanthe

Rakshit Shetty's first film as a director is set in the fishing town of Malpe on the coast of Karnataka. A death occurs, and the film gives it through the accounts of five different people, each partly contradicting the others. The structure comes from the Rashomon tradition, but Shetty places it in a local context. The town's economy, a religious festival, smuggling and family calculations are all inside the narrative. The sections are not chronological and the viewer is expected to assemble the pieces. The film did not find the audience expected on release; in later years it came to be seen as one of the starting points for a new generation in Kannada cinema. The cinematography and editing are above the standard of regional production at the time. Who it's for: those who like multi-narrator construction and the new generation of Kannada cinema. Who it's not for: viewers looking for a straightforward account; the film keeps breaking time and is hard to follow on first viewing.