Hemanth M Rao on Agnyathavasi release delay: The environment was not right for business…

April 11, 2025 is when Gultoo maker Janardhan Chikkanna’s Agnyathavasi finally hits theatres. This was the film that the director had taken up immediately after the success of Gultoo, but in the time since he made another film, Powder, that hit theatres in August last year. In fact, Powder went on floors in August 2023, meaning that Agnyathavasi has been waiting for its day in movie halls for quite a while. It’s a delay that Hemanth M Rao, who is one of the producers of the film, effected for a reason. In late 2023, when the film was ready, Hemanth was busy with the release of his own directorial, Sapta Sagaradaache Ello Side A and Side B, and subsequently, “the environment just wasn’t right”, he says.

Hemanth addressed the delay in Agnyathavasi’s theatrical outing at the film’s trailer launch on April 3. “Even though we started the film 2 years ago, the reason we did not release the film so far is that the environment was just not right, in terms of bringing a movie like this to theatres and other related business aspects. It was a little destabilised, because of the corrections that OTT platforms were making in the post pandemic phase. When a bunch of people have put in their best efforts to make a film, it is my responsibility to ensure that I take it to the target audience, even if that means it gets delayed,” said Hemanth, adding that as producer, it has worked out well for him to release the film at this time.

Agnyathavasi has Rangayana Raghu in the lead, along with Pavana Gowda, Siddu Moolimani, Ravishankar Gowda, Sharath Lohithashwa, among others. The story is set in a quaint village in the late 90s – a place where there’s hardly ever been a crime. So much so that the police officers of the local station have as normal a lifestyle as the villagers and are not equipped to deal with major crimes. But when a murder occurs in their jurisdiction, it is up to them to figure out who did it. Only problem is that in doing so, long buried secrets tumble out.

Also read: Best murder mystery movies that will keep you hooked

While Janardhan is yet to announce his next project, Hemanth was supposed to start work on a film with Shivarajkumar, which has now been pushed ahead, given that the actor has just recovered from surgery for bladder cancer and is not yet in peak physical condition to take up as challenging a project as what Hemanth had planned for him.

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