Exclusive: 4 cities, 1 malaise: Critical Keerthanegalu shows how rampant IPL betting is

This week’s release, Critical Keerthanegalu, directed by Kumaar, draws people from different age groups and from various parts of Karnataka to show how rampant betting during IPL is. Here’s a look at the four strands of the story.

Rajesh Nataranga (Vijay) is a techie who works in a software company and Apoorva Bharadwaj (Chitra) is a homemaker living in Bengaluru. They have a daughter, Siri.Everything is hunky dory in their life until Vijay is lured by IPL cricket betting. He uses online gaming applications whenever he is free from work to multiply his money.

Yashas Abhi (Karna) works in a small chit company in Mangaluru. He falls in love with Deepa Jagadeesh (Jayashree) and needs money quickly so that he can marry her. Betting seems to be the only way. He faces objections from the girl's father who is a rich man. A Mangaluru dialect of Kannada has been used to make it realistic. Actors Raghu Pandeshwar and Dinesh Mangaluru are seen in pivotal roles here.

Aruna Balraj (Lakshmama) toils hard to ensure her son gets an education in Mandya, but Puttaraju (Byra) and his friend Mahendra (Maada) use the money to invest in cricket betting. Lakshmama has no idea what her son is doing. Yashas Shetty (Abhi) plays the antagonist.

Fed up with his work, Taranga Vishwa (Tuglak Kumar), an autorickshaw driver in Belagavi, is enticed by betting and decides to try his luck. But he ends up with a huge financial loss. North Karnataka Kannada has been extensively used as well. Actor Dharma will also be seen in a significant role.