Each short film a gem

Katha Sangama

Kannada (U/A)

Rating: 4.5/5

Move a magnifying glass over the crowd and you find stories that make you laugh and cry, and show you the darkness and light inside each mind. That’s how Puttanna Kanagal approached his art, and ‘Katha Sangama’ (2019) is a fitting ode to the legendary director.

Each of the seven short films in this collection is a gem in its own right. Puttanna had made a film of the same name in 1976. That film featured Lokanath, Manjula, Rajinikanth
and Govinda Rao, among others. Rishabh Shetty has now put together another anthology of the same name, with seven directors, each story having a separate cast and crew.

The first film, Rainbow Land, takes you to a childhood filled with surprises and love. If you're a parent, it gives you an unusual perspective on sacrifice.

In Sathyakatha Prasanna, a burntout man is inching towards the end of his career and only magic can make life better for him. The portrayal of Murthy (Prakash Belawadi) pushes you to think deeply about life and love.

Girgetle is a set in a remote Mangaluru village where a man takes advantage of loop in the space-time continuum. It gets eerie and spooky. Some amazing drone shots make
you fall in love with Karantaka’s coast.

Uttara makes no statements, and just leaves the audience with questions.

Paduvarahalli harks back to a village immortalised by Kanagal with his film ‘Paduvarahalli Pandavaru’. A lot is said in just a few minutes. The story, about revolutionaries in the erstwhile princely Mysore state, is not just compelling but also new.

The balance it strikes is rare, and usually lost in good vs bad plots. When oceans meet, they roar at each other. The tumultuous start in Sagara Sangama eventually settles in peace. The idea of two diametrically opposite worlds meeting is elevated with good performances and camera tricks.

If the others are gems, then Lachava must be the grandest of them all. The naivete and purity of the lead character leaves you speechless. All the seven short films have good music. Were Puttanna around today, he would have felt proud to have inspired a new generation of fantastic filmmakers.