Thithi

Kannada film industry is going through a paradigm shift gradually. The filmmakers are taking the affliction on their shoulders to elevate the quality of regional Indian Cinema like Malayalam, Tamil,Telugu, Marathi or Bengali.

Having created movies Like Lucia, RangiTaranga, Ulidavaru Kandanthe etc, the storytelling and narratives are shifting towards excellence.

Ram Reddy has done a marvelous job with a satire "Thithi". The idea and setup work wonderfully.

Working with non-actors and keeping the realism intact is a tough nut to crack. All the ingredients of the movie, a rural setting, authenticity, a dysfunctional family, daily teething troubles, desires, covets and minimalism, work fantastically. The humor is weaved perfectly.

A perfect watch for people who want to watch something different.

It's no easy task to make a movie where none of the 'actors' are actors, and still end up with something entertaining. Please watch it if you haven't already!

Thithi (2015) : Brief Review -

A light-hearted, humourous and realistic Kannada drama set in serious period of post-funeral. Ee Mae Yau (2018) directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery was a very sensitive and heartbreaking film on the same topic but Thithi came 3 years before. And it was made in a complete opposite genre, a humourous comedy+drama.. Though, it has its own seriousness involved in storytelling which you have to understand. It's not a big miss if you don't understand it because you are gonna love the humour anyway. But Thithi definitely lacks powerful and life changing statements even after having a large potential for it in there. In a South Indian village, a centenarian's funeral brings together his free-spirited son, inheritance-hungry grandson and girl-crazy great-grandson. The film is a light-hearted journey of three generations during that specific period of 11 days between the death and the Thithi ceremony. All three generations are shown differently, that is one of the USP of the film but not all three end up making sense. Maybe, the problem was in the theories of the writer rather than actors and theirs execution. Thithi is solidly covered by realistic surroundings so one expects the same realism and brutality in the climax too, which is missing. The actors are fabulous by the way. Not just one or two actors but the entire big cast looked utterly real and natural. The screenplay could have been more pacy. It is dragged by unnecessary pauses and slow movements. Like, i don't understand how someone just walking on the road or doing any daily activities can worth almost 50-60 seconds of the runtime for more the 10 occasions? If you are not showing anything artistic and meaningful then stop wasting time in such scenes na. Don't always cover up your failures under the carpet of realistic cinema. Overall, Thithi is very good but definitely not a Classic. Those last 10 minutes made a big difference in the final impact.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest.

It's very satirical. I personally do not see any specific 'comment' in the society. The social structure given is perfectly fine. It is jus a nice, well written, play-like brilliant piece of movie.

I viewed this movie at the current New Zealand International Film Festival...

It wasn't bracketed as a "highly recommended" watch by the catalogue editors, however to be blunt, I think they've missed a trick. The very realistic nature of this film allows it to resonate strongly with people of all ages, and the humour is very subtle, yet well received.

The audience is left with a somber feeling in their stomach, pondering a world in which wealth and greed seem to prevail over family and well-being.

You could be forgiven for thinking this film might be slightly dull after reading the synopsis, but I assure you it would be a poor assumption. A great, whole-hearted watch!