Agnyathavasi out on OTT: Case of a mysterious murder in a sleepy Malnad village is now streaming

It took Gultoo -fame director Janardhan Chikkanna 3 years to get his film Agnyathavasi from muhurtha to theatrical release. After struggling to find backing for what was then meant to be his sophomore project, Janardhan found the support he needed in fellow filmmaker Hemanth M Rao, who was intrigued by the pitch the former had. While the film did not take long in the making, Hemanth took a call to delay the release as market conditions were not conducive for theatrical and/or OTT outings.

Hemanth’s gamble paid off, in that Agnyathavasi’s satellite and digital rights were sold prior to the theatrical release, a rarity these days, especially with Kannada cinema. The film, which released in theatres on April 11, along with the likes of Good Bad Ugly, Maranamass , Vidyapati , Vaamana, Alappuzha Gymkhana, Bazooka, etc., is now out on OTT. Agnyathavasi dropped on Zee5 on May 28, 2025 and is available in the original Kannada version, with English subtitles. If you missed it in theatres, you can stream Agnyathavasi on OTTplay Premium now.

Agnyathavasi based on a true story from Malnad

Agnyathavasi is based on a story by Guru Krishnaraj and has, reportedly, true-crime inspiration from a mysterious murder that took place in the Malnad region in the 90s. The film is set in the late 90s, in a sleepy Malnad village, where crime is literally unheard of, so much so that the two police officers in town keep themselves busy with other activities, one is a farmer, while the other is a temple priest.

When the local landlord Srinivasaiah (Sharath Lohithashwa) is found dead, presumably of age-related natural causes, the inspector (Rangayana Raghu) goes by that narrative at first, but is then convinced that there was foul play involved, which, no one else seems to believe. What is it about the case that sets him off on this tangent?

Agnyathavasi, which features Hemanth’s regular collaborators Charanraj (music), Ullas Hydoor (production design), Advaitha Gurumurthy (cinematographer), also stars Ravishankar Gowda, Pavana Gowda, Siddu Moolimani, Arvind Kuplikar, among others.