Shakhahaari

Story:

Sandeep Sunkad, a debutante, is the writer and director of the 2024 Indian Kannada-language murder mystery film Shakhahaari. The main actors in the movie are Vinay UJ, Nidhi Hegde, Rangayana Raghu, and Gopalakrishna Deshpande. The cinematography and editing for the movie were done by Vishwajith Rao and Shashank Narayana, respectively, while Mayur Ambekallu wrote the soundtrack and score. The beautiful scenery was captured during the extensive filming in Malenadu. The movie came out on February 16, 2024. Both critics and viewers gave the movie favorable reviews when it first came out.

Plot

A middle-aged, gentle-spoken chef named Mastikatte Subramanya “Subbanna” Bhat runs a small vegetarian restaurant in a rural community that has been in the family for three generations. Staying alone after splitting from his fiancée Subhadra, Subbanna still sees her every day as she walks by on a bus route behind the restaurant and looks at him. One day, Vijay, a wounded fugitive who had escaped from police custody and been shot during a confrontation with a unit under the command of Sub-Inspector Mallikarjuna Hiremath, collapses inside Subbanna’s eatery. Subbanna is reluctant at first, but when the authorities ask him, he decides to hide Vijay’s existence and hides him in his bedroom at the back of the institution. Subbanna learns about Vijay’s history and current situation while tending to his wounds.

Raised in an orphanage, Vijay had a strong relationship with Harsha, another orphan, whom he eventually grew to think of as family. Into adulthood, the two remained inseparable. Later on, Vijay was hired by the Border Security Force. Harsha set up Vijay’s marriage to a local woman named Saugandhika in an effort to give him family stability. The pair fell in love, but she was devastated when Vijay left for a two-year military training program.

Vijay learned of Saugandhika’s adulterous affair with Madan, a neighbor, while he was away from home from a letter from Harsha. When confronted, Saugandhika acknowledged having an affair but maintained her love for Vijay. When Vijay got home that night after drinking, he reportedly saw Madan strangling Saugandhika in their chamber before passing out. Vijay was taken into custody by the police the next morning for her murder. Based on the preliminary evidence, the police were ready to close the case, but Vijay tried to get out of detention and prove his innocence.

Vijay’s claims of innocence force Subbanna to decide to take him in and take care of him. He even helps organize Vijay’s escape to a different village. However, Vijay passes away under mysterious circumstances before their plan can be implemented. Subbanna mutilates Vijay’s body into small pieces and throws them into the kitchen’s fire with other stock wood in an attempt to covertly dispose of the body and remove any evidence of the incident from the restaurant’s grounds in order to allay suspicions and criminal accusations. Soon after, Subbanna is annoyed when a frequent customer starts to complain about the establishment’s lingering, disagreeable smell.In the meantime, another customer, Shastry, a curious and nosy local, becomes wary of Subbanna’s actions and, in part for his own enjoyment, chooses to look into the situation more.

Based on his discoveries and discussions with Harsha, Mallikarjuna starts to doubt Vijay’s innocence as the inquiry goes on. Mallikarjuna keeps looking for the true killer because he believes that a successful case conclusion would speed up his transfer to his hometown, where his sick wife is recuperating. After a while, his investigations bring him to Madan, whose location he starts tracking down. In the meantime, Subbanna feels a fresh feeling of joy when he receives a letter from Subhadra, telling him that her marriage has failed and that she would like to resume their relationship.

Already skeptical, Shastry notices Subbanna’s abrupt change in attitude. After a dispute in which Subbanna responds angrily to Shastry’s questions, he grows even more certain that something is amiss. After learning from Shastry and other locals about Subbanna’s increasingly unpredictable behavior and the peculiar smell coming from the eatery, Mallikarjuna discovers that Madan is actually Subbanna’s stepbrother. He confronts Subbanna head-on after coming to this realization.

After a lengthy period of estrangement, Subbanna reveals the whole truth about Madan, a criminal. A intoxicated Madan once stormed into Subbanna’s eatery after hours and demanded money. During this encounter, Subbanna finds a set of pictures that Madan is holding, including pictures of Saugandhika and Vijay. According to these images, Madan has engaged in several extramarital affairs and has used the fear of publicity to demand money from people involved. The most recent victim of Madan was Saugandhika, who was murdered by Madan for lack of money, and he subsequently tried to link Vijay to the crime.

Panic ensued as Subbanna forcibly removed Madan from the property in an attempt to stop him from taking money and discovered him dead. Then, just like with Vijay’s body, Subbanna disposed of Madan’s. Given that he identified Vijay from the photos and felt accountable for his stepbrother’s misdeeds, this revelation clarifies Subbanna’s choice to shield him from the police.

Startled by Subbanna’s admission, Mallikarjuna asks that he turn himself in to the authorities and provides a tape of their exchange as proof. However, Subbanna makes fun of Mallikarjuna after learning that the recorder was dead and that no talk was recorded. Mallikarjuna responds by hitting Subbanna, who unintentionally sustains a mortal wound when a nail pierces her temple. He chooses to dispose of Subbanna’s body in the same way as Madan and Vijay’s because he knows that Head Constable Mamtha Kini, one of his subordinates who knows when he last saw Subbanna, is working with a lawyer who has a history of conflict with Mallikarjuna.Mallikarjuna finishes this, but before he dies, Subbanna gives him a drink that is tainted with rat poison, which causes his death. The restaurant has been sealed off as a crime scene, and the investigation is still ongoing. One morning, Subhadra enters the restaurant through the back door and is distraught to find her letter partially burned on the burner.