What do you do with a promising theme and a loose storyline? Confronted with this dilemma, ‘Kaddha Chitra’ (Stolen Story) seeks refuge in chaos, going in for confusion over clarity. It exasperates the audience in the process.
Narrating the story of Vijay Kshatriya (Vijay Raghavendra), a best-selling novelist, the plot revolves around plagiarism and the mess it lands the hitherto successful writer in.
Sunk in depression and dejected in marriage--his wife Aditi (Namratha Surendranath) leaves Vijay goes out of town for a holiday with his daughter Shanvi (Aaradhya N Chandra). How he attempts a literary comeback there, with motives other than just money, forms the rest of the plot.
Plagiarism provides an interesting premise as it has seldom been dealt with in mainstream Kannada cinema. However, the film fails to give the average viewer a glimpse of what makes it blasphemous in literary circles.
With no focus, the film superimposes negative characters on the narrative towards the end. The only highlight is the portion with magical realism, which makes sense given the psychological trauma the hero goes through. However, it fails to help the muddled plot.
The film depends heavily on Vijay Raghavendra, reducing the scope for other characters. But much of his screen time is wasted on smoking and drinking; the frames only reinforce the stale stereotype that writers are drunk Bohemians. The film’s length (a little over 100 mins) is the saving grace, as it puts an early end to the terrible ride.