Prithvi Konanur has made three films so far, all three of which are critically-acclaimed, while one got the Silver Lotus award at the National Film Awards. And yet, his films have had a very limited audience so far – two got very minimalistic theatrical releases, but could not muster footfalls. With most mainstreaming OTT platforms not picking Kannada content, and only few managing streaming deals, it’s been even tougher for Prithvi to get a conversation started about his films.

Despite meeting the OTT mandate that stipulates a theatrical release before any sort of a deal can be discussed, Prithvi could not get anyone interested in his films and has finally decided to take them to audiences directly. On August 15, the filmmaker will release his most recent film, Hadinelentu on his YouTube page, as his last-ditch effort to give it maximum reach.

What's Hadinelentu about?

Hadinelentu revolves around a delicate subject – two teenagers engage in sexual activity that they decide to film for their own consumption. Yet this moment of intimacy is soon on pretty much everyone’s phone, and the kids are hauled in for questioning by the college authorities. Hadinelentu, though, is not about what the two youngsters did. Instead, it focuses on the aftermath.

The boy is from an upper class, well-to-do family, while the girl isn’t and despite the authorities’ protestations that the class and gender divide has nothing to do with the punishment meted out to both, there is a marked disparity in the punitive action. And if that isn’t bad enough, it also turns out that one of them is already 18, making it a an issue about the age of consent.

Prithvi has Neeraj Mathew and Sherlyn Bhosale as the young couple, with the supporting cast including names like Rekha Kudligi, Sudha Belawadi and Bhavani Prakash among others. While the festival outing of the film had an open-ended climax, the filmmaker now has a promise of a sequel.

Read Also: Railway Children OTT release date: When and where to watch Prithvi Konanur’s National Award-winning film