Big ideas rather than a big canvas: Hemanth M Rao on what Kannada cinema needs to thrive

Kannada director Hemanth M Rao recently turned producer with a company named after his mother Dakshayani, who introduced him to stories and storytelling. A Masters of Arts in Kannada, Dakshayani Rao inculcated in her restless son a reading habit – she bought him a library membership – as well as the feeling for a good yarn. She died of cancer in 2024, and her memory lives on in Dakshayani Talkies, which has produced Janardhan Chikkanna’s Agnyathavasi.

The atmospheric period thriller, set in Malnad, follows a troubled inspector (Rangayana Raghu) who investigates a mysterious death. Agnyathavasi was released on April 11 in cinemas alongside the Ajith-starrer Good Bad Ugly. Already, a debate has broken out on social media about the minnow going up against the big fish, the fate of homegrown Kannada films against such big-budget dubbed productions as Good Bad Ugly.

“Storytelling is about identity and individuality, and every individual voice will have his own way of interpreting a genre piece,” said Rao, the director of Kavaludaari (2019) and the acclaimed two-parter Sapta Sagaradaache Ello (2023). Rao spoke to Scroll about what drew him to Agnyathavasi and how he sees the present and future of Kannada cinema.

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