Aatagara
| Aatagara | |
|---|---|
 promotional poster | |
| Directed by | K. M. Chaitanya |
| Produced by |
Dwarakish Yogish Dwarakish |
| Screenplay by | K. M. Chaitanya, Kannan Parameshwaran |
| Story by | Kannan Parameshwaran |
| Starring |
Chiranjeevi Sarja Meghana Raj Parul Yadav Anant Nag Anu Prabhakar Achyuth Kumar Dwarakish Prakash Belawadi |
| Music by | Anoop Seelin |
| Cinematography | Satya Hegde |
| Edited by | Haridoss KGF |
Production company |
Dwarakish Chitra |
Release date |
|
| Country | India |
| Language | Kannada |
Aatagara (Kannada: ಆಟಗಾರ: translation: Player) is a 2015 Indian Kannada romantic thriller film directed by K. M. Chaitanya and produced by Dwarakish Chitra in its 49th production.[1] The film has an ensemble cast with as many as 10 protagonists played by Chiranjeevi Sarja, Parul Yadav, Meghana Raj, Anu Prabhakar, Achyuth Kumar, Prakash Belawadi, Balaji Manohar, Pavana Gowda, Sadhu Kokila, Aarohitha Gowda along with Ananth Nag, P. Ravi Shankar and RJ Nethra in key supporting roles.[2] The music is composed by Anoop Seelin. The film released on 28 August 2015.[3] The movie is based on Agatha Christie's mystery novel And Then There Were None, which has already been adopted into many movies and novels in different languages all over the world.
Producer Yogish Dwarakish -director Chaitanya- hero Chiranjeevi trio later on went on to work again in Aake.
Cast
- Chiranjeevi Sarja as Mrutyunjay, a drug peddler
- Parul Yadav as Mallika, an actress
- Meghana Raj as Sakshi
- Anu Prabhakar as Sandhya Ramagopal, Principal of Rainbow School
- Sadhu Kokila as Sadhu Maharaj, a chef
- Achyuth Kumar as Yashwanth, a journalist
- Prakash Belawadi as Dr. Chetan Bhagawat
- Pavana Gowda as Anu
- Balaji Manohar as Kannan Param "KP", a fashion photographer
- Arohitha Gowda as Bhavana
- Muni
- Kari Subbu
- Sundar Raj
- Babu Hirannayya
- Raghavendra M. Singatagere
- Sujith Soman
- Shishir
- Rishi
- Chandradhar
- Veena Sundar as Hema Bhagawat, Dr. Chetan Bhagawat's wife
- Urmila Biswas
- Niharika
- Uma Hebbar
- P. Ravi Shankar as Inspector Ravi Gowda
- RJ Nethra as TV Host Usha
- Dwarakish
- Rohit Padaki as Sub-inspector Rohit
- Anant Nag in a cameo appearance as a former judge
Controversy
The movie was accused as a remake of 2011 Tamil movie Aduthathu directed by Thakkali Srinivasan. However, director K. M. Chaitanya cleared the air saying that both the movies were based on Agatha Christie's mystery novel And Then There Were None which was about ten characters stranded on an uninhabitated island. He also claimed that while few characters - Meghana Raj ( a model who delibarately lets a child drown), Sadhu Kokila (a cook who has killed his owner) and Prakash Belwadi ( a doctor who is always suspicious on others and acts weird)- were directly based on the characters from the novel, few other - Anu Prabhakar ( principal of a multicoloured school where a child sex abuse case has been reported), Achyuth Kumar ( TV news anchor who does not allow others to air their views ) and Parul Yadav ( a reputed cinestar who gets away from a drink & drive hit & run accident case)- were based on real life incidents.[4] However, questions were raised to similarity between the sudden introduction of the master-mind in the basement of the secret room in both Kannada and Tamil versions in spite of the character being anonymous and not making an appearance in the novel. Similarities were also found in the reality-show backdrop, ten faces of Raavana, the characterisation of the investigating officer and the one traitor among the reality-show participants (none of which were found in the novel). It was also argued that instead of ten faces of Raavana , the team could have tweaked it to Dashavathar with metaphoric reference but did not do so as it was straight away taken from the Tamil movie. At this point of time, the team of Aatagara arranged a special screening of the movie for Thakkali Srinivasan in Bangalore. Srinivasan clarified that it is not a remake of his film. He also praised Aatagara of being an extremely well made film. He also revealed that he had made a serial inspired from Agatha Christe's novel And Then There Were None in 1995. Later he made the film Aduthathu inspired by the same. For both these, Kannan Parameshwaran worked on the story. Kannan also wrote the story and co-screenplay for Aatagara inspired by the same novel. Srinivasan also said that anything similar is to the novel and not his film. He also said anyone saying the movie a remake were ignorant and calling this movie a remake would be an absolute joke.[5][6]
Soundtrack
The soundtrack is composed by Anoop Seelin.[7] Initially Seelin composed a total of 4 songs and the film makers reportedly dropped out a song so as to not affect the film's pace. The team reportedly came up with a riddle song which celebrated the legendary artists of Kannada cinema.[8]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Aatagara" | Rohit Padaki | Shashank Sheshagiri | |
| 2. | "Tharamayya" | Rohit Padaki | Santhosh Venky, Supriya Lohith | |
| 3. | "Halooralli Uliyoryaaru" | Rohit Padaki | Archana Udupa, Anoop Seelin |
Awards
- 63rd Filmfare Awards South
- Best Actress - Parul Yadav
References
- ↑ "Dwarakish Chitra Next". Indiaglitz. 1 October 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
- ↑ "Ten Protagonists In Aatagara". The New Indian Express. 20 August 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
- ↑ "Aatagara Movie Review - Movie Preview". Indiaglitz. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
- ↑ http://www.bangaloremirror.com/entertainment/south-masala/Aatagara-is-not-a-remake/articleshow/48734672.cms
- ↑ http://www.chitraloka.com/exclusive/12388-tamil-director-ends-aatagara-controversy.html
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dE2_8qw-_I&feature=youtu.be
- ↑ "Aatagara 2015 Kannada movie songs". Southsongs4u. Archived from the original on 12 August 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
- ↑ "A riddle song from the thriller Aatagara". Bangalore Mirror. 17 July 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2015.