T

The first person she approaches is a local cashew nut merchant, Shailesha who knows
both Richi and his childhood friend Raghu (Rishab Shetty). Richi had been in a
remand home for 8 years and Raghu had escaped to Bombay(Mumbai) to work in a hotel
and later with a local gang. Shailesha accidentally comes across Raghu during one
of his Bombay trips. The two meet up in harbour where the Shailesha tells Raghu
that his father is no more and his mother is making a living by selling fish at the
local market. Raghu tells him he cannot leave Bombay as he knows many 'secrets' of
his employer. He plans to relocate to Dubai with his mother, once he has sorted out
the necessary funds. To do this, Raghu steals a red bag which was important for a
'deal' between the Bombay and an interested party in USA. He fights his ways
through the gang's henchmen and escapes to Malpe where Shailesha provides him a
safehouse.

Raghu realises that his location is compromised as two armed gangsters approach his
house and start knocking at the front door. As Raghu steels himself for the
impending gunfight, the knocking stops and the men leave.
Chapter : 2

The second narrative comes from a close ally of Richi, Dinesha (Pramod Shetty) who
is held in lock-up. Richi (now portrayed by Rakshit Shetty) is a brash and
flamboyant young man who carries out dirty work for a local gangster-cum-
businessman, Shankar Poojary (Dinesh Mangalore). Poojary has links with Bombay
underworld and runs several fishing boats in Malpe. Richi has earned a bad
reputation for himself and is a disgrace to his father, a priest in the local
Church.

Poojary summons Richi and Dinesha at his estate and tasks him to find Balu (Achyuth
Kumar), one of his employees to 'teach him a lesson'. Poojary asks Richi not to
overdo it by 'losing control'. The annual Janmashtami festival in Udupi is at full
swing as Richi and gang arrive at Jod raste. Balu has painted himself as a tiger
and is participating in Pili-vesha (tiger dance). Richi knocks out Balu and has him
sent to the harbour. However he takes a detour when he hears that Raghu is back in
town and needs a 'visit'.

It is revealed that Richi and Raghu were the armed gangsters who were looking for
Raghu in the previous story.

Richi forces his way into the house, and goes about explaining made-up story of a
Cuban boy (Tony Montana from the film Scarface) and a boy from Mandva (Vijay
Chauhan from the movie Agneepath), and how a person at the receiving end of a
beating often doesn't realise why he is being served this. This story doubles as a
threat to Raghu and also as a metaphor for the viewers who are kept in dark as the
violent story unfolds. Richi finds the red bag which Raghu had stolen from Bombay
gang and asks the latter to join him for a boat ride. Raghu reluctantly agrees
saying that he has to join his mother for dinner later in the day.

Once on the fishing boat, Richi is torturing Balu and forcing a confession out of
him. Eventually Richi pull out a gun on Balu who by now is broken man, and fires a
shot. It would seem that Balu is no more.
Chapter : 3

Raghu's mother Ratnakka (Tara) makes a living out of selling fish in Malpe. After
the death of her husband her life is of struggle. Raghu visits his mother at his
childhood house and tells her that he wishes to move permanently to Dubai along
with her. However he has to leave immediately and will return to pick her up once
her documents are in order. He agrees to visit her the next day for dinner where
she will prepare her signature dish Meen-saru (South Canara style fish curry, the
chapter's namesake). The next day, a gleeful Ratnakka is shopping for fish in the
local market, where she lets her fellow fisherwomen know that she is leaving for
Dubai soon. That evening Ratnakka elaborately prepares the fish curry and waits for
her son to arrive. Her joy turns to disappointment as the hours go by and she
slowly starts to realise that her son may not return.

Munna(Kishore) has a soft corner for Balu's sister who sells fish. He often roams
around the fish market in hopes of getting a glimpse of her. He also tries to woo
her with the help of the young lad, aptly known as 'Democracy'. Munna works as a
repairman for Shankar Poojary's boats. During the routine inspection of a fishing
boat which Richi had used for his earlier 'adventure', Munna discovers an empty
shell casing on the deck. Having the knowledge that Balu was previously seen with
Richi at harbour, Munna concludes that Balu has been murdered by Richi and gang.
Chapter : 4

Balu is in a ragged state when Regina approaches him for questioning. Balu has
developed a prejudice for crows and starts to pelt stones at them whenever he sees
one. During one of his fishing trips he catches a heavy log of wood in the fishing
net. Balu decides to keep this to himself and soon discovers that the log actually
contains a priceless relic which 'glows like gold'.

Balu tries to make a profit out of this by selling the merchandise to a foreign
party through a Bombay based middleman. The middleman is not able to make full
payment as the merchandise has been misplaced and a deal cannot be finalised. As
the Janmashtami festival approaches Balu has his body painted as a tiger for Pili-
vesha and is performing at Jod raste. Richi and gang knock him out and takes him on
a fishing boat to force a confession. During the interrogation Richi pulls out a
gun and it is revealed that the shot was fired at Raghu. During his childhood,
Richi had committed a hot blooded murder trying to protect Raghu, after which the
latter escaped to Bombay leaving Richi behind to be arrested. Richi has deep
bitterness against Raghu for this 'betrayal' because of which he spent 8 years in a
remand home.

On opening the red bag, it is revealed that it contains the merchandise which Balu
was trying to sell off and Raghu is the middleman from Bombay who stole the item
before the deal could go through. He was planning to sell it in Dubai in order to
secure a life for him and his mother.
Chapter : 5

Richi returns to Malpe where he is celebrating with Poojary and the tigers from
Pili-vesha. Munna believes Balu was killed by Richi's gang and is now blinded by
hatred for Richi and compassion for Balu's sister. Finding the right opportunity,
Munna pulls out Dinesha's gun and shoots down Richi who in his dying moments is
unaware of Munna's motive. The irony is clearly seen now that Richi becomes a
victim of his own story of the 'Cuban boy and boy from Mandwa'. Dinesha returns the
favour by shooting Munna in the back, who in his dying moments finds peace in the
fact that he has avenged for Balu's sister.

It is now clear that Regina was investigating the triple murders

(Richi/Munna/Raghu). She concludes that the story has many facets and cannot be
clubbed into a single narrative and hence decides to name the story 'as seen by
others'.
Cast

Rakshit Shetty as Richard Anthony aka "Richi"

Kishore as Munna
Tara as Ratnakka
Achyuth Kumar (credited as Achyuth Rao) as Balu
Rishab Shetty as Raghu
Sheetal Shetty as Regina
 Yagna Shetty as Sharada
Dinesh Mangalore as Shankar Poojary
B. Suresh as Father (Richi's father)
Pramod Shetty as Dinesha
Gowrish Akki
Raghu Pandeshwar
Arun Prakash Shetty
Master Sohan as Democracy
Master Akshay
Master Lohith
Baby Kavya

Production

In an interview during the production of Ulidavaru Kandante, Rakshit Shetty said,

"For UK, I want to create an experience that would last for generations to come. I
will be more than happy if my movie keeps running in people’s hearts." [7]
Development

The production of Ulidavaru Kandante was started on 1 August 2013. [8]

Marketing

The trailer of the movie was published on YouTube on 6 December 2013.[9] It

garnered 44,618 views within 48 hours of its launch, breaking the previous record
for a Kannada film trailer set by Simple Agi Ondh Love Story. The trailer was also
released in theatres by Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar, at the Triveni theatre,
Bangalore the next day.[10][11] Loose Maada Yogesh said he is ready to postpone his
next movie for Ulidavaru Kandante.[12]

The film maintains a presence on Facebook[13] and Twitter,[14] where they solicit
memes and invite users to take turns at guessing the nature of film's MacGuffin.
Director Rakshit Shetty, busied himself after the release of the trailer, in the
design of customisable T-shirts to promote the movie, and also as a vehicle to
bring out more popular dialogues to build public anticipation and the fan-base
prior to release. This was motivated by the favourable response to scenes depicted
in the trailer, as well as some of the lines delivered by the characters.

The team also plan to release video screensavers, and curate blog posts of the
audience's reactions after release. Shetty explains that this social engagement -
inviting viewer and fan perspectives on the subject - is a natural extension of the
thematic subject of the film itself.[15]

Sify.com reports Ulidavaru Kandante as a "wave of freshness".[16]

Soundtrack
Main article: Ulidavaru Kandanthe (soundtrack)
Theme

In an interactive session, Rakshit Shetty said he developed the story of the film
with reference to Pancha Bhoota. He also stated that he not only wanted to narrate
the story of the characters but also wanted to portray life also Udupi in the 90s.
Even though the commercial elements of a successful cinema are there in the film,
it was truthful to Karnataka culture. Rakshit Shetty also stated that he was
inspired by Quentin Tarantino and Scarface (1983 film) for making the film. But he
did not westernise the script. Being truthful to Karnataka culture is the
speciality of this film.

The story elements of the movie are said to be inspired by Pulp Fiction (1994)
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Trivia
The movie overall is an ode to the way of life in Dakshina Kannada district of
Karnataka. Certain creative choices of the movie bring these aspects out:

Ratnakka wants to prepare Meen-saru for Raghu, a dish predominantly from

Dakshina Kannada/Malabar coast and uses traditional Clay pot during preparation.
The grandfather clock which Ratnakka has in her house is of Nayak's brand which
was a popular brand at the time.
The movie is generously sprinkled with dialogues(including curse words) in Tulu
language.
Movie has scenes depicting Yakshagana and Pili-vesha, which are native to
Dakshina Kannada.
Richi refers to the local deity Jumadi in one of his dialogues.

Release and reception

The film was given the "U/A" (Parental Guidance) certificate by the Regional Censor
Board. The scene that was censored was that of a cockfight sequence and the use of
abusive words muted. Apart from this, the number of smoking scenes were asked to be
cut down.[17] Following this, the film was released on 28 March 2014, in over 100
theatres across Karnataka, simultaneously releasing in theatres in the United
States, and New Zealand.[18]
Screenings

The film was screened in June 2014 at the London Indian Film Festival (LIFF) where
it received positive response from the audience, and it was called one of the best
Indian films to have been made at the time. LIFF rated the film calling it a
"dazzling epic".[19][20] The film was screened in Leverkusen, Germany on 18 May
2014.[21] It was announced in August 2014 that the film would be screened at the
Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas in September 2014.[22]
Critical reception

Upon release, the film received positive to mixed reviews from critics. Shyam
Prasad S. of the Bangalore Mirror reviewed the film and drew comparisons to Akira
Kurosawa's Rashomon (1950), which has a similar plot. He added, "The film strives
hard to become a 'cult' film, but it falls short somewhere during its journey." He,
however, praised the role of direction and acting departments in the film, and
appreciated the director for brilliantly capturing the culture of Mangalore and the
surrounding areas.[23] B. S. Srivani of Deccan Herald rated the film 3/5 and
praised the cinematography, music and writes about the "fine effort by a debutant
[director]."[24]
Box office
Ulidavaru Kandante opened to a good collection of around ₹3 crore (US$420,000) in
its first week from release. Collections dropped in the second week and it was
declared as hit at the box office.