PremiumLatest Kannada films and web series this week: Coming to theatres and OTT
A dark comedy involving gangsters and a hard-hitting story about farmers’ issue – these are the subjects tackled in the Kannada film releases of August 18
Last Updated: 05.54 PM, Aug 14, 2023
Last week, no Kannada film wanted to risk a clash with Superstar Rajinikanth’s first release in two years, Jailer. The film, which took up a lion’s share of the available shows/screens in the state, especially in the major centre Bengaluru, got a rousing reception at the box-office and had the few Kannada movies from earlier weeks scrambling to retain the few theatres they had. With Jailer going strong at the box office, this week, two Kannada films, both by debutant directors, are vying for a share of the pie. The big OTT release of the week is a series by Raj & DK and while a Kannada trailer was not available initially, the makers have assured that the show will be available in the language.
| TITLE | CAST | PLATFORM | RELEASE DATE |
| Kshetrapathi | Naveen Shankar, Archana Jois, Achyuth Kumar, Krishna Hebbale | Theatre | August 18 |
| Baang | Ritvik Muralidhar, Natya Ranga, Saathvika, Sunil Gujjar, Raghu Dixit, Shanvi Srivastava | Theatre | August 18 |
| Guns & Gulaabs (dubbed) | Dulquer Salmaan, Rajkummar Rao, Adarsh Gourav, Gulshan Devaiah | Netflix | August 18 |
Kshetrapathi
Directed by debutant Shrikanth Katagi, Kshetrapathi is a film set in north Karnataka that delves into the major problems faced by the farmers’ community. The film has Naveen Shankar of Gultoo, Hondisi Bareyiri and Gurudev Hoysala fame in the lead, as an engineer called Basava, who has to return home and be at the forefront of the fight for farmers’ rights. The film also stars Archana Jois, Achyuth Kumar, Krishna Hebbale, Natya Ranga, Shailashree Urs, among others. The hard-hitting and relevant story apart, KGF-fame Ravi Basrur’s score is also a highlight.
Baang
The other film in theatres this week is Sree Ganesh Parashuram’s launchpad Baang. The basic line of the film revolves around a group of four friends, played by Ritvik Muralidhar, Natya Ranga, Sunil Gujjar and Saathvika, who stumble upon a mysterious bag, the contents of which are being fought over by two sets of gangsters, one led by Daddy (Raghu Dixit) and the other by Leona (Shanvi Srivastava). While the team says that there’s more to the film than just that, what’s caught audiences’ attention so far is the casting of popular singer-composer Raghu and Shanvi as leather-jacket sporting hard-core criminals. The film is music composer Ritvik’s acting debut .
Guns & Gulaabs
Family Man and Farzi makers Raj & DK’s latest is Guns & Gulaabs, a gangster story set in the 90s. Set in the fictional cartel-run town of Gulaabgunj, the comedy follows the chaos unleashed by a police officer, a lovesick mechanic, and some gangsters, following an opium deal. Guns & Gulaabs is Malayalam star Dulquer Salmaan’s web series debut. Also on the cast are Rajkummar Rao, Gulshan Devaiah, Adarsh Gourav, (late) Satish Kaushik, among many others. When the makers shared the dubbed versions of the original Hindi trailer, there were questions as to why Kannada was missing, which, Raj & DK assured that the streamer, Netflix, is working on rectifying. It is not clear if the Kannada version will be available on August 18 or at a later date.