Tenant out on OTT: Dharma Keerthiraj’s pandemic murder mystery is now available to stream
Tenant out on OTT: Debutant director Sridhar Shastri’s Tenant, which released in late November 2024, has got a streaming partner. The film also stars Rakesh Maiya, Sonu Gowda and Tilak
Last Updated: 07.19 PM, Feb 21, 2025
When the Kannada film Tenant released in theatres in November last year, audiences were pleasantly surprised to see Dharma Keerthiraj in a role with grey shades. The actor, who has by and large been seen in lover-boy roles, played the title character Tenant in this thriller, revolving around the death of the house owner. While the film did not have a great theatrical run, Sridhar’s story received praise.
Nearly three months after the theatrical release, Tenant is now available to stream. As of February 21, 2025, Tenant is streaming on Sun NXT with Kannada audio option only. Tenant is the first Kannada film to drop on the platform in 2025, the last few being Sathish Ninasam’s Matinee and Golden Star Ganesh’s Krishnam Pranaya Sakhi.
Also read: Tenant movie review: A pandemic thriller with a decent plot and execution that’s just a tad too long
What is Tenant about?
Tenant follows a young couple, Kamalesh (Rakesh Maiya) and his wife Damini (Sonu Gowda), who make do with the income from a small grocery shop that he runs and the rent from a room they’ve let out in their house to Sundresh (Dharma Keerthiraj). Homemaker Damini, though, is hassled by Sundresh’s lack of hygiene, throwing cigarette butts and other waste all over the courtyard, leaving her to clean up his mess.
Irritated by his refusal to stop littering, and the unwanted advances he makes on her, she urges Kamalesh to get Sundresh to vacate. In the ensuing scuffle, Kamalesh sustains a massive injury to his head and bleeds to death. But who killed Kamalesh? Following reports of a domestic disturbance, Inspector Jay (Tilak Shekar) arrives at the scene and realizes that something’s fishy.
The film is set during the pandemic, with only 4 primary cast members and a cameo by Ugramm Manju and one location. Director Sridhar describes the film as his attempt to present a dark side of the pandemic. Tenant had released when both Dharma and Manju were in the Bigg Boss Kannada 11 house and unavailable to promote it.