Gultoo

Gultoo
Theatrical Poster
Directed by	Janardhan Chikkanna
Produced by	Prashant Reddy Devraja R
Screenplay by	Janardhan Chikkanna, Avinash Lakshmaiah
Story by	Janardhan Chikkanna
Starring	Naveen Shankar Sonu Gowda Avinash Rangayana Raghu Pawan Kumar
Music by	Amit Anand
Cinematography	Shanthi Sagar H G
Edited by	Bharath M C
Production company	Vivid Films
Release date	30 March 2018 (2018-03-30)
Running time	127 mins
Country	India
Language	Kannada
Box office	₹1 crore (1st week)[1]

Gultoo is a 2018 Indian Kannada language cyber-thriller film written and directed by Janardhan Chikkanna.^[2] Produced by Prashant Reddy and Devraja R, film's music is scored by Amit Anand. Naveen Shankar and Sonu Gowda feature in lead roles along with Rangayana Raghu, Avinash playing the supporting characters. Shanti Sagar is the cinematographer of the film.^[3] under the banner of Vivid Films.

Plot

Alok (Naveen Shankar) an orphan becomes famous in his college by hacking an online movie booking website and make his seniors watch a movie which was a task during the Ragging session. After college he and his friend Aasthi (Ram Dhanush) stay together where Alok works as a Computer Science trainer in a Computer Institute where he falls in love with Pooja (Sonu Gowda). Pooja is later revealed as an undercover officer of Indian Intelligence Bureau. Later with the help of Phaneesh (Pawan Kumar) a techie, she tries to pin Alok, who turns out to be the prime suspect in the theft of the ADHAAR data from the storage centre.

Cast

• Naveen Shankar as Alok
• Sonu Gowda as Pooja Ramesh/Anagha
• Avinash as Circle Inspector Avinash
• Rangayana Raghu as Chief Minister Anantharamaiah
• Pawan Kumar as Techie Phaneesh
• Ram Dhanush as Arasiah Thimmappa alias Aasthi

Critical response

The film opened to positive reviews from critics upon theatrical release. Writing for The News Minute, Rakesh says “It comes as a bit of a surprise to see Sandalwood pick up on the topic of Aadhaar and data theft so quickly.”^[4] Rating the movie 3.5 out of 5, Sunayana Suresh from The Times of India says “The freshness in the narrative and the extensive research show that director Janardhan Chikkanna is someone to watch out for.”^[5] “Gultoo has the elements of a musical-romance and a thriller. But it is spread out in the form of a tragicomedy – a tragicomedy because the viewers are left scratching their heads at the blatant truth staring at them and applauding the makers’ vision at the same time" quoted The First Post.^[6] Deccan Chronicle carried the review saying “amidst all sorts of smart ‘leaks’ which has rocked the nation, raising big questions over the safety of all our personal data, here comes a perfect infotainment revolving around one such 'leak’ from another engineer turned director who makes an impressive mark, hacking into a sensible tale in his debut venture.”^[7] Prakash from IB Times states that “It is a new-age movie that deals with data theft and exposes the way our data is being mined for money. It tries to showcase how our every single moment is recorded and has a price on the internet. In short, the movie shows how technology can bring misery to our lives but doesn't take a stand whether tech is good or bad.”^[8]

Marketing

“The director has come out with different posters too, which go well with the title and subject of Gultoo. There was a producer-pitch trailer, in which every actor wore glasses with round frames, and this became a highlight".^[9]

Casting & Filming

Naveen Shankar’s entry into Gultoo was through association with college batchmate and director Janardhan Chikkanna.^[10]

Soundtrack

Amit Anand has composed the score and songs for the film. The lyrics for the songs are written by Jayanth Kaikini, Kiran Kaverappa and Anoop Ramaswamy Kashyap.

References

External links

• Gultoo on IMDb
• Official website