Kozhikode International Film Festival: Hari Kathaprasanga' rules Day 4

KOZHIKODE: The fourth day of the Kozhikode International Film Festival (KIFF) was marked by the screening of Ananya Kasaravally’s Kannada film, ‘Hari Kathaprasanga’ (Chronicles of Hari). The film is based on a short story by author Gopalakrishna Pai. Hari is a Yakshagana artiste who rose to fame by enacting female roles. He becomes a woman in the night on stage and during day he is a man. The confusion over gender identity starts to haunt him and to fix an identity, Hari begins dressing as a woman. This worsens the situation and he has to leave the village.

‘Hari Kathaprasanga’ is the debut feature film of Ananya, the daughter of renowned film maker Girish Kasaravally. The director has meticulously used silence and the character’s facial expressions to convey subtle emotions. Theatre artiste Shrunga Vasudevan has delivered an outstanding performance as the protagonist. “Fine use of the background score, village life and the portraying of a complex theme make the film stands apart,” observed Deepthi Thekkayil, a journalism student. Abhilash. V, a government employee felt that the film could have been better if more focus had been given to technical aspects. ‘Revelations’,’Onaatah’, ‘Pathinonnam Sthalam’, ‘Where are my shoes’ and ‘Great Dictator’ were the other films exhibited on Monday.