One of the few Kannada films to get positive reviews this year is debutant director Sandeep Sunkad’s thriller Shakhahaari, which has Rangayana Raghu in the lead. Shakhahaari, a thriller which saw the veteran actor in a never-before-seen role that he said was challenging to portray, is now on OTT, albeit available overseas only. As of May 22, the film became available on Amazon Prime Video in UK and US only, on rental basis. There is no update on the India release yet, but if Blink’s release is any indication, Shakhahaari will be available to audiences in India in a few days.

All about Shakhahaari

Shakhahaari follows Subbanna Bhat (Rangayana Raghu) , who runs a modest eatery in the small town he calls home. His hotel is also his home, a place where he follows a certain routine, whether it is in the running of the establishment and its fixed menu or his ‘me’ time, when he steals a glance of a bus that passes by every day at a particular time. When Subbanna’s world crosses paths with that of a fugitive, whom he then shelters, things change irrevocably for him. With the cops, led by Inspector Mallikarjun (Gopalkrihna Deshpande), hot in pursuit, can Subbanna keep his little secret?

Despite the overwhelmingly positive response to the film, director Sandeep had admitted that it did not translate into an increase in footfalls. In fact, the filmmaker said that Shakhahaari had not broken even at the end of its theatrical run. More than a month ago, the filmmaker had said that the team was close to striking post-theatrical deals, which would put the team in profit zone.

The film was said to have received a pay-per-view deal, which makes streaming minutes important, but its overseas OTT release has meant that it has found its way to piracy sites, as has been the case with Blink and Dharani Mandala Madhyadolage, with the latter yet to be available for audiences in India.

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