The first story is a dark comedy about a man on a short fuse, who gets into a ridiculous fight and pays a high price. An old farmer couple visit Bengaluru for the first time, and must cope with unexpected tragedy. A young boy who is addicted to drugs and the dark World Wide Web, executes dangerous “tasks” assigned by an online stranger. A beggar woman with a fair complexioned child is accused of kidnapping it.

The story of the man on a short fuse (Raj B Shetty) who attacks a geeky passer-by (Jaishankar Aryar, director of Shivamma), reflects on growing number of short-fused nutters you see around today in real life and social media, as well as the mutually destructive nature of violence, with some laugh out loud moments. The farmer couple must deal with a tragedy in which they must cope with the paradox of whether it is kindness to kill a suffering loved one. The drug-addicted boy who follows dangerous tasks given by an online stranger, alerts us to the addictive power of drugs and computers and phones, as we swiftly lose control of ourselves and follow online algorithms, instructions, prompts, reels and advertising. Its young protagonist (Anjan Bharadwaj, terrific) also made me reflect on Avalokitesvara, a Bodhisattva who postpones his own nirvana in order to help others achieve salvation. And the story of the dark-skinned beggar woman with the fairer complexioned baby illustrates how the poor—and single women--are easily destroyed by our judgemental, patriarchal and entitled society.

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Edalavath’s direction is confident, even if some of the stories are a bit uneven. Occasionally, he does squeeze our emotions, as in the story of the old couple. Edalavath’s writing is mostly excellent, with solid investment in both ideas and emotion. The acting is good—with superb turns by Lekha Naidu as the beggar woman, Somashekhar Bolegaon and Hanumakka as the farmer couple, and Anjan Bharadwaj. Bharath GB is superb as a constable who redeems himself. But many others in the ensemble cast are excellent too. Praveen Shriyan’s cinematography is good, as is the editing by Bhuvanesh Manivannan and Praveen Shriyan. Midhun Mukundan’s music is effective, but understatement would have been more effective. Congratulations to the producers including Suhan Prasad and Parth Jani (Mango Pickle Entertainment, Jani Entertainment and Lighter Buddha Films) for backing this film. I couldn’t find any women crew listed, but happy to be corrected. Go see this film for a thoughtful yet moving film.

Meenakshi Shedde is India and South Asia Delegate to the Berlin International Film Festival, National Award-winning critic, curator to festivals worldwide and journalist. 
Reach her at meenakshi.shedde@mid-day.com