RangiTaranga-Movie Review

Cast: Nirup Bhandari, Radhika Chetan, Avantika Shetty, Sai Kumar
Genre: Thriller
Direction: Anup Bhandari

Spoiler Alert

Goutham and Indu lives an isolated life in Ooty. The couple visits Kamarottu, native of Indu's for a ritual (Bhootaradane). A Journalist, Sandhya is in search of an anonymous writer, "Anashku" as well reaches the same village. Mysterious events unfolds and that is crux of the story. I'm keying down why this much hyped movie didn't work for me.

Positive Remarks:   
1. "Dennana Dennana", a song from Guddada Bootha television soap of 1990s. I'm not able to recollect the plot, but the tune is still fresh in my memory.
2. "Kareyole" song where every word starts with Kannada letter "Ka".
3. Rafiq is the saving grace. He appears in a few scenes and will have you in splits.
4. Brilliant marketing strategy. My FB timeline is filled with this movie's promotion, applaud, reviews, and that is the only reason for me to watch this movie.
5. Avantika Shetty is beautiful. She reminds me so much of Kriti Samon. 

Logical Errors/Unanswered questions:
1. Goutham doesn't have a picture of his wife when he goes to the police station to lodge a missing complaint. He explains all their stuffs were destroyed in a fire incident. Well, couldn't he show a photo in his mobile? After all the incident happened in 2012 or so.
2. This leads to another point. Director claims his movie to be a "romantic mystery thriller. Clearly our hero is emotionally drained. Who doesn't have picture of their loved ones in their smart phones/normal phones these day? Here I have to mention Gautham is a freelance writer for an American magazine.
3. There is absolutely no chemistry between the lead actors. It was impossible to conceive that the couple were in love.
4. Dialogues were tad bit annoying and limp.
5. Back-to-back songs in the second half.
6. There were five people involved in the accident. We already know Siddharth and real Indu don't have parents. But what about Indu's husband (played by the director, Anup Bhandari himself), Harini Ranganath, and unidentified man? Don't they have parents, extended family, friends? Harini easily steals identity and lives merrily with a stranger in reclusive Ooty. 
7. Sandhya, swears to be in love with Siddharth. Wasn't she distraught when he disappeared? Hasn't she frantically searched for him?
8. It is said that Thenkabail Kalinga Bhat only targets pregnant women on a particular day of the year. He appears in front of couple's car even before they could reach their house? How he gets to know Indu is pregnant is beyond my imagination.
9. A woman disappears(played by Swapna Raj) in the opening scene when she accidentally takes a different route while talking to her husband on the phone. Hey, there to talented Kalinga Bhat shows up. He must be a psychic to know the missed-routes of pregnant ladies.
10. Kamorattu is a small village and for nine consecutive years women disappears and they think it is Guddada Bhoota (Ghost in mountain) because they hear screaming from the mountain where precisely Kalinga Bhat has an ancestral house. This events happened between 2002 and 2012 and director is blissfully unaware of the cable TVs where crime shows are telecasted everyday. People are not ignorant anymore.
11. It hasn't shown how Kalinga Bhat kidnaps his victims. He makes upside down appearance in front of vehicles and vanishes in a split second. How? He is a human being. Is'nt he?
12. What is the relationship between Garnal Babu and the maid?
13. Harini Ranganath murders a stalker, steals identity, assumes/presumes Siddharth will lose memory, and weaves a story around their life, visits ancestral village as Indu, where police record clearly says Indu is dead in a car accident. Pretty smart. Isn't she?
14. Kalinga Bhat's costume is confusing, is it Bhuta Kola dancer's or Yakshagana artist's, looks more like the latter to me.
15. Character's played couldn't pull off South Canara accent.
16. No explanation as to why strange things happen in the house, Indu falling into well, tape recorder playing automatically, etc.

Verdict: With so many unanswered questions and logical errors, it is an average movie. It is a good attempt, but could have been better with loose ends being tied.

PS: How I wish "Ulidavaru Kandanthe" team could have used the brilliant marketing strategy, which is a cult classic in the Kannada Industry.