After an impressive film, Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu, director Hemanth Rao hits a crossroad (Kavaludaari) with a whodunit tale, set in the emergency period. It revolves around the missing priceless jewels dating back to Vijayanagara dynasty and the murder of an archeological officer along with his wife and his 10-year-old daughter.
At the outset, the crossroad is well laid with no visible technical humps or potholes, but the reel problem lies in its tale which is way beyond one’s wildest imagination. In short, it is the mother of all coincidences even when cinematic liberty is taking into account.
Right from the innovative camera work towards showcasing two different timelines — one set in the 70s and the other being the present day, in a single frame, the honest effort speaks for itself and deserves appreciation. That apart, the rest of the journey on this crossroad is unrideable and unimaginable.
For instance, when skeletons are found near an under-construction flyover, the protagonist’s curiosity, who is a traffic sub inspector, takes him back to the emergency period wherein an archeological officer is murdered along with his family. Thereafter the whodunit tale starts pouring with numerous suspects as per the case diary which Shyam, the protagonist portrayed by Rishi manages to lay his hand on.
In between, a journalist helps uncover the truth even as Shyam traces the police officer who had probed the murder case before he quit in the middle after losing his wife and his daughter in a road mishap.
Hemanth’s Kavaludaari is more like a well presented dish but tasteless when eaten. When Shyam and a former police officer (portrayed by the impeccable Anant Nag) finally finds out who the real killer is, the further revelations will blow the sane minds.
The biggest shock of all comes in the end with the coincidence of Shyam’s connection with that of the murdered archeological officer, who had saved a person’s life before his end.
