Matsyagandha trailer – Fishermen and the police at the centre of this volatile tale from Uttara Kannada

Matsyagandha is Pruthvi Ambaar’s other film, besides For Regn, that is releasing in theatres on February 23. He’s not too thrilled about this clash, since both films are special in their own way, but with the teams unwilling to budge and make certain concessions, Pruthvi is caught in this quandary. Matsyagandha is Pruthvi’s first as a cop and has him in a rough-and-tough avatar, unlike most of his boy-next-door lover boy roles.

Matsyagandha motion poster - Pruthvi Ambaar & Co. promise a gritty cop tale from Uttara Kannada 

Written and directed by Devaraj Poojary, Matsyagandha is a tale set in Uttara Kannada and explores the livelihoods of the fisherfolk of the region and the exploitation they face from those who make a killing off them. It’s a place where members of the community have to look out for each other and stick together in times of trouble because help from those entrusted with law enforcement is not always forthcoming. Can Pruthvi as Param bring in a change?

Matsyagandha marks the debut of actor Prashant Siddi as music director. The film also stars Sharath Lohithashwa, Bhajarangi Lokesh, Nidhin Hegde, Nagaraj Byndoor, Kiran Naik, Ashok Hegde, PD Sathish Chandra, Disha Shetty, Anjali Panday Prathima Naik, Kailash Ninasam, among many others. As of now, 5 films are said to be February 23 releases, of which 2 belong to Pruthvi. The Dia actor has a film in theatres currently, Juni, which, despite an interesting subject, is struggling to draw crowds.

Pruthvi has an interesting lineup of films thereafter, including Life is Beautiful, Bhuvanam Gaganam, A Day in Dollarspete, Aba Jaba Daba and Amara Madhura Prema. In an earlier interview with OTTplay, Pruthvi had spoken about feeling immensely lucky to be able to not only pursue acting as a career, but to also explore a wide variety of characters.

Pruthvi Ambaar: After Dia, I got a bunch of good experimental films, but I need to prove my marketability to sustain that 

This, however, he said, would only continue to be possible if he is able to prove himself as a finically viable option. So far, that has eluded the actor. And having film releases at such close intervals is not helping his cause either.