Anukta is a crime thriller set against the backdrop of Mangaluru’s daiva kola tradition

Mystery thrillers, it would seem, are the flavour of the season in Kannada cinema, what with many upcoming films belonging to the genre. One of them, is this week's

Anukta

: The Truth, directed by debutant Ashwath Samuel, a crime thriller set in Mangaluru, against the backdrop of the daiva kola tradition.
A former media professional, Dubai-based Ashwath was looking for an opportunity to turn filmmaker and return to his roots. So, when he stumbled upon Karthik Attavar's story, he knew it was time to make that move. “The story was intriguing, so we developed it into a murder mystery, one of the highlights of which is the music by Nobin Paul. In fact, after the trailer was released, many asked us if the story had any real-life inspiration, but that is not the case. It is pure fiction that we have attempted to portray as realistically as possible,” says the director.
The narrative of the film, starring Sampath Raj, Anu Prabhakar, Karthik and

Sangeetha Bhat

in the lead, is not linear, beginning in 1992, going back to the 80s and so on and so forth. “It is a blend of two eras,” says Ashwath