BEHINDWOODS COLUMN

The Kannada feature decorated with freshness is Anup Bhandari’s Rangitaranga. This film opened to receive high appreciation from movie patrons in its home state of Karnataka on 3rd July itself. The cinema frequenters of Chennai city have been granted the opportunity of experiencing this unique piece of work from the Kannada industry, which is evidently a rare phenomenon.

Rangitaranga is a work of fiction which is the result of convergence of two near to reality complicated stories. One realises the convergence only with the last frame of the film. Anup, writer and director of Rangitaranga succeeds in convincing the audience that the film falls into the basket of horror genre in its first half. Smartly, the film marches towards an investigative thriller mode in the second half. This transition is nearly seamless and is well driven by the creator.

Debutant Nirup Bhandari, as the lead character carries all the expectation and responsibilities in a highly matured and planned manner. The two ladies, Avantika Shetty and Radhika Chetan with natural makeovers deliver a high class performance. They don't look unreasonably dolled or the pancakes are not exploited, thanks to the make up artist and costumer. Watchout for Saikumar’s surprise avatar!

Many masterminds in cinema believe screenplay to be a process that takes place when a set of characters are let to react to a specific situation in a particular location. Rangitaranga takes the culturally inclined lifestyle of the people in the Western ghats of Karnataka to its advantage. This instantaneously makes the film gain a new aura of freshness and strength in its nativity connect.

Music and the lyrics are very rustic and are aptly rendered by the filmmaker Anup himself. This might be one of the reasons why the songs are not standing out as a sore thumb instead it is gelling well with the process of narration. Other technical aspects like cinematography, editing and overall production design contributes to the well being of the story.

Rangitaranga does not demand the audience's attention! One can decide to focus their thought onto the film purely or wander around. If your choice is the former, then you are sure to be more than happy for your decision. With a more precise screenplay, Rangitaranga would have been that film which shows no drawbacks.

Rangitaranga lets you travel along with it but leaves you with a few interesting conundrums to chew on.

Verdict - Chennai cinema patrons, you will not want to miss on this intriguing story that an Indie filmmaker has set out to narrate.