Taledanda OTT release date: When and where to watch late Sanchari Vijay’s film on environmental conservation

The film is among the late actor’s last works and has him in the role of a differently-abled character, fighting the timber mafia.

Late Sanchari Vijay and Chaitra Achar in the film

When National Award-winning Kannada actor Sanchari Vijay passed away last year following a bike accident, he had a couple of completed projects ready for release. One of them was Taledanda, a film on environmental conservation, in which Vijay played an intellectually challenged person.

The film, directed by Praveen Krupakar, had Vijay in the role of Kunne Gowda, a differently-abled tribal, who fights to preserve nature by standing up against the timber mafia, in this tale that also puts the spotlight on the rapidly depleting green cover and global warming. Sporting fake buck teeth and speaking in the dialect of the Soliga tribe, Vijay was joined by Mangala, B Suresha, Ramesh Pandit, Bhavani Prakash and Chaitra Achar as pivotal characters in the film.

The story of the film revolves around Kunne Gowda, who grows up surrounded by greenery and with the abundant knowledge of the good that nature does, passed down by his father. When the local MLA devises a devious plan to have a road running near a protected green belt for which 150 trees have to be chopped, Kunne Gowda fights for their protection in his own innocent way.

After Vijay’s tragic demise, director Praveen had faced the ire of netizens for posting visuals from his film on social media. At the time, he had clarified that he had done it as a creative tribute to the immense talent Kannada cinema had just lost. Also doing the rounds back then were videos of Vijay dubbing for the film with the fake set of teeth to ensure that he stayed in character.

The film was released in theatres in April this year and received mixed reviews. While Vijay’s performance as Kunne Gowda was appreciated, the making of the film was dubbed rather amateurish and melodramatic too. However, the subject of Taledanda continues to be pertinent in these times of global warming. The digital rights of the film have been picked up by Zee5, with the streaming platform to make it available from May 13.

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