Katha Sangama Movie Review: The perfect ode to Puttanna Kanagal

Katha Sangama brings a rare pattern of filmmaking in the Kannada cinema. Rishab Shetty’s vision brings together seven different stories in an anthology filled with brilliant performances. Experimenting with different directors and connecting with various characters, Rishab's innovative attempt is a lovely ode to Puttanna’s legacy. And it lends itself to a beautiful viewing experience as well.

The seven shorts that make up Katha Sangama are as follows:

Ranibowland
(Duration: 20 minutes)
Director: Chandrajith Belliappa
This short gives a glimpse of the little joys a father (Kishore) wants to give to his daughter Ria (Mridinika) by fulfilling her dream of being at Rainbowland. It beautifully depicts how there is a child in everybody.

Sathya Katha Prasanga
(Duration: 21 minutes)
Director: Karan Ananth
This story involves the viewer in a thought-provoking situation of a 60-year-old man, Sathya Murthy (Prakash Belawadi), dealing with the trauma of the last day before his retirement. His connections with a tattoo artist (Sowmya Jaganmurthy), and how this helps him forget the regretful past and brings the joys of life back, is the crux of this film. It takes us into a world of magical realism which is well balanced by Belawadi’s mesmerising act.

Girgitle
(Duration: 23 minutes)
Director: Shashi Kumar P
Set in a coastal area, this one gives a glimpse of Vini’s (Raj B Shetty) irresponsible lifestyle, which his girlfriend (Amrutha Niak) disapproves of. She wants to break up with him. If given a second chance, how he handles the whole situation is interestingly narrated by the director.

Utthara
(Duration: 26 minutes)
Director: Rahul PK
This story has the longest runtime, and it takes us through the deep thoughts of two people — Jacob (Pramod Shetty) and Paramesh Rangaswamy (Balaji Manohar) — who share one room and have different ideologies. How the two debate on life with different perspectives is brought out in a conversational way by two fine actors.

Padavarahalli
(Duration: 14 minutes)
Director: Jamadagni Manoj
This story takes us back to the Mysore province of the 1900s. It brings out the conflict in the mindset of a barber, whose family and friends were killed by a customer who had come for a shave. His dilemma forms the crux of this story, which comes with a lot of focused action by the two actors.

Sagara Sangama
(Duration: 16 minutes)
Director: Kiranraj K
The director of this short makes exceptional use of silence. The actors have no dialogues and mostly enact through expressions. The film revolves around Rishab Shetty, Hariprriya, and a dog, Rumy.

Lacchavva
(Duration: 25 minutes )
Director: Jai Shankar
This story consists of non-professional actors and talks about Lacchava (Paravva) from Hubli, who shifts to Bengaluru to be with her son, Beera (Beera). The immigrant woman steps out to buy Dharwad peda and gets lost in the concrete jungle of Bengaluru. She does not know where her son stays and has to seek help from various people to finally reach her son’s house. The innocence of this woman steals many hearts in the audience. Katha Sangama ends on a happy note, with Paravaa’s natural acting getting big applause.

Katha Sangama thus binds together different stories, each with its own set of fine characters portrayed by exceptional actors, and gives us a cinematic classic. Credit goes to Rishab Shetty and all the directors and actors who have together created this masterpiece. Giving them equal support are the cinematographers, music directors, and editors. Katha Sangama is a well-thought vision by Rishab and the perfect ode to Puttanna Kanagal, the legendary director who came up with the concept of anthology in Kannada cinema.