Kavaludaari

Kavaludaari
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Hemanth M Rao
Written by	Hemanth Rao
Produced by	Ashwini Puneeth Rajkumar
Starring	Rishi Anant Nag Achyuth Kumar Suman Ranganathan Roshni Prakash Sulile Kumar Sampath Sidhaartha Maadhyamika
Cinematography	Advaitha Gurumurthy
Edited by	Jagadeesh N.
Music by	Charan Raj
Production company	PRK Productions
Distributed by	Sri Vajreshwari Combines
Release date	April 12, 2019 (2019-04-12)
Country	India
Language	Kannada

Kavaludaari (transl. Crossroads) is a 2019 Indian Kannada-language neo-noir crime thriller film written and directed by Hemanth Rao,¹ presented by Puneeth Rajkumar and produced by Ashwini Puneeth Rajkumar of PRK Productions.² Kavaludaari will be the first feature film presentation from the production house. The film stars Rishi,² Anant Nag,³⁴ Achyuth Kumar, Suman Ranganath, and Roshni Prakash⁵ in the lead roles, while Avinash, Sulile Kumar, Sampath, and Sidhaartha Maadhyamika⁶ play supporting roles. The music and background score for the film is composed by Charan Raj with cinematography by Advaitha Gurumoorthy and editing by Jagadeesh. The film released on 12 April 2019.

Puneeth Rajkumar had revealed that the movie is being remade in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi.⁷⁸⁹ The film was remade in Tamil as Kabadadaari starring Sibiraj¹⁰ and in Telugu as Kapatadhaari starring Sumanth; both versions star Nandita Swetha.¹¹¹²

SI K. S. Shyam is a sincere traffic cop, whose real interest lies in handling crime-related cases. One day, he accidentally comes across the skeletal remains of a three-member family, and he decides to pursue his interest despite warning from his senior officer. However, his plans hit a roadblock when he gets to know that the remains are four-decades old. The forensic reports show that there are signs of struggle on the bodies, so it most likely was a murder. His encounter with Kumar, a struggling small-time journalist who is equally interested in the case, helps him unfold many mysteries. He looks through the cold case archives finds out that the dead family's head is Gurudas Naidu, the boss of an archaeology department who worked with Sampath to uncover jewels from the Vijayanagara Empire. Naidu and his family's disappearance was the same day Sampath was mysteriously killed in 1977.

Gurudas Naidu was seen with a bloodstained shirt the same night, so Shyam suspects that he killed Sampath. The arrival of Mutthanna, a retired cop, who investigated the case decades ago, and actress Madhuri into the plot, makes things even more complex for Shyam. Kumar informs Shyam that Madhuri is related to the case, so Shyam goes to ask her questions, but it proves unsuccessful. Mutthanna eventually agrees to help Shyam by divulging what he investigated decades prior. He reveals that Gurudas Naidu actually didn't kill Sampath and that the blood on his shirt was from a wounded person whom he had saved. Who killed Sampath, and how the family died still remains a mystery. Madhuri is later found dead in her home. When Mutthanna and Shyam go to investigate her house, they see a picture of Madhuri wearing a necklace from the Vijayanagara Empire excavation.

A goon suddenly breaks into the house, and Shyam and Mutthanna chase after him. When they follow the goon, it leads them to a resort. In a park near the resort, Mutthanna recognizes the place where the Naidu family's car was originally burnt. Inside the resort, a political leader is giving a speech, and Shyam gets a call from Kumar to meet him. Kumar tells him that before Madhuri was an actress, she used to be a dancer who worked for gangsters. One person had a deep connection with Madhuri: Mailur Srinivas Rao, the upcoming CM of Karnataka. Meanwhile, Mutthanna discovers that the resort belongs to Mailur. Shyam goes to inspect Mailur's old home to find more evidence. He finds holy Christian objects hidden in a high shelf, which confuses Shyam because Mailur is a Hindu. He tells Mutthanna, who attends Mailur's campaign. He notices that Mailur resembles Fernandez, Gurudas Naidu's old driver.

In front of the crowd, Mutthanna shouts "Fernandez" to which Mailur reacts. He gets scared and orders his goons to abduct Mutthanna. Mutthanna manages to warn Shyam that he and Kumar are in danger, before being kidnapped. Mailur explains to Mutthanna that he found out that Gurudas Naidu was storing jewelry worth 80 lakhs in his department, so he killed Sampath to steal it in a bid to escape from poverty. And just to make sure he would escape with the money, he decided to kill the Naidu family too. Mutthanna roped another employee named Bablu into his plan, but didn't tell him about Sampath. Bablu put "sleeping pills" in the Naidu family's food, which were secretly poisoned. Gurudas Naidu's wife, daughter, and finally he himself died while Fernandez watched and laughed. A grieving Bablu threatened to tell the police about what Fernandez did, only to be warned the bag containing the pills had Bablu's fingerprints, so he would also get in trouble. Fernandez transported the Naidu family's bodies in his car, buried them, and burnt the vehicle. He used the stolen jewelry to become wealthy, assuming the identity of Mailur Srinivas Rao to avoid suspicion.

In the present, Mailur orders his goons to kill Mutthanna. Shyam arrives too late to save him, and before Mutthanna dies, he reveals Mailur's crimes. Enraged, Shyam kills the goons. He eventually discovers that Kumar is actually Bablu. Shyam goes to confront him, but the arrival of Kumar's daughter Priya forces him to leave. Afterward, Shyam visits Mailur—ostensibly to threaten him—but instead agrees to work for him. Mailur orders him to assassinate Bablu. During a car ride, Shyam stops the vehicle and shoots Kumar, but only after recording Kumar's full confession regarding Mailur and Madhuri. Kumar reveals that while trying to interview Madhuri about her necklace, he accidentally knocked her to the floor, killing her. A guilt-ridden Kumar admits he tried many times to get revenge on Mailur for manipulating and cheating him, but never had the courage to confess.

After supposedly killing Kumar, Shyam attends Mailur's felicitation ceremony and confesses to the murder. However, it is revealed that Shyam lied and Kumar is still alive. Disguised, Kumar serves Mailur poisoned milk, causing him to die in a similar manner to the Naidu family. Later, while driving with Shyam, Kumar admits he drank the remaining poison out of guilt, unable to face his daughter. He dies on the road in front of Shyam. Kumar's recording goes viral, exposing Mailur's past sins to the public. Due to his work on the case, Shyam is promoted to Inspector in the crime branch. He watches as the Naidu family's gravestone is marked with their names. Finally, it is revealed that the man Gurudas Naidu saved years ago was actually Shyam's father.

The music is composed by Charan Raj.¹⁵

The background score of the film was appreciated by both audiences and critics alike. Following that, the original soundtrack was released on 9 May 2019 in YouTube and all other platforms.