Film Aatagara
Director KM Chaitanya
Cast Chiranjeevi Sarja, Meghana Raj, Parul Yadav, Anu Prabhakar, Pavana, Achyuth Kumar, Prakash Belawadi,
Ravi Shankar
The real hero of Aatagara is the director, KM Chaitanya. He deserves the applause for he surrendered the security of a stable career when the soul demanded change. Just three films old, the boldness of the director in choosing a topic that not just depended on performance, but slick characterisations, crisp cinematography and constant suspense, deserves commendation.
Aatagara made under Dwarakish Chitra is indeed a clever film sprinkled with exceptionally stylish twists that make for classic edge of-the-seat thrillers.
The plot revolves around a TV channel’s reality show where 10 high profile individuals participate and are sent off to an unknown destination. The show goes awry when one by one the contestants go missing and are later killed. The rest of the team decides to run for their life. Will they succeed or get killed and how a reality show gets them to understand ground realities of people makes the rest of the story.
The film channels the epic Ramayana to say that; where there is Ravana, there is Rama and reminds us of everyday evils like children being abused in schools and the unethical stand of concerned authorities, celebrities who get away with accidents, hedonistic lifestyle of celebrities, etc. and goes on to emphasise that whatever you sow, you got to reap in this life.
Chaitanya does complete justice to the story written by Kannan Parameshwaran. The dialogues are bang on as they underscore the suspenseful plot. No sequence stretches beyond a point of plausibility and the relationship between the characters feels quite real and the emotional fragility of each has been captured quite remarkably.
Actors Chiranjeevi Sarja, Meghana Raj, Parul Yadav, Prakash Belawadi, Anu Prabhakar, Balaji Mohan and Pavana have kept to the expectations of the director as well as the audience. That’s more than enough to keep the plot honest.
Anant Nag is the trump card of Aatagara, whose role is astoundingly realistic. Ravi Shankar, Sadhu Kokila, Arohita Gowda and Dwarakish have given their best to their short roles.
The technical side impresses too. The theme music directed by Anoop Seelin perfectly blends with the game of life in Aatagara. Cinematographer Sathya Hegde has made use of every frame with good picturisation in a clever and taut visual style. Rohit Padaki’s dialogues are sharp.
Definitely a suspenseful, fascinating and crisp thriller.