Manaroopa: A Kannada psychological feature film capturing travel escapade of five friends in dense forest is now available on Amazon Prime Video

    Bags best ‘Experimental Film’ award at Café Irani Chaii International Film Festival          (CICIFF-2020) held recently in Mumbai
    Manaroopa officially selected for Miami Independent Film Festival in the US                                 and Istanbul Film Awards in Turkey

Bengaluru, March 19, 2020: Manaroopa, a new age psychological crime thriller genre Kannada feature film released in the theatres on November 22, 2019, is now available on Amazon Prime Video. For the debutant director Kiran Hegde, who won rich accolades from critics for this skillfully crafted film; this is yet another opportunity to reach out to a larger audience through yet another contemporary distribution channel.  

Meanwhile, Manaroopa, a film which was a bold attempt to understand different shades of human being aimed at capturing the dilemma of Millennials and their existential predicament that has an influence on the social fabric of society, has brought itself more fame. First, Manaroopa has bagged the best ‘Experimental Film’ award at Café Irani Chaii International Film Festival held recently in Mumbai. Secondly, Manaroopa has been officially selected for Miami Independent Film Festival, in the United States and Istanbul Film Awards in Turkey.
 
Manaroopa’s entire story takes place in a day and offers a strange experience for the audience to enjoy and if possible connect it with their self-obsession. This is a film about a planned get-together of 5 friends meeting up after a decade and this takes them to the dense forest of Western Ghats. The escapable nature in them makes them choose Karadi Guhe (Bear Cave) as their destination to unwind, recollect the past and also share their future dreams. During the travel, the friends crave about their good old days together and intimately discuss the missed opportunities, which raise issue of morality. Even as they inch towards their destination, they are still unaware of the challenges in store for them and also do not realize that their journey is being snooped. If the nature of terrain, and unchartered territory is one trial, the other major challenge is their encounter with Maskaphobias. The movie has all the trappings of a strange web of extreme narcissistic mind.

A debut film of Kiran Hegde, a communication professional turned film-maker, Manaroopa captures the varied emotions of generation next ranging from self-obsession, narcissism to being a neglected lot, amidst thick forest of Western Ghats - in & around the hinterland of Sirsi and Siddapura forests. It is a free flowing story that reveals broken emotions while it gets reflected in the mirror of their conscience. According to Kiran Hegde, “The film’s theme and its shocking subject/s were a bold attempt to capture the contemporary social life of Millennials”.

According to Kiran Hegde, “I was disappointed when the experimental film did not reach the right audience through the traditional distribution route. With the film now available on Amazon Prime Video Platform, I am thrilled and confident it will reach larger audience. Also with subscribers of Amazon Video now sharing the film posters in social media a catalytic effect is driving more audiences to watch the psychological crime thriller”. Further, he revealed, “I have produced and directed Manaroopa out of my passion for film making as I strongly believe that this is the best vehicle to communicate views, emotions, thoughts and all other possible elements humans aspire to look for & relate it to themselves”.


The cast of Manaroopa includes new face Dilip Kumar, who plays the lead role, while Anusha Rao (a popular face in Kannada small screen) and Nisha B. R. (with few films to her credit) get to play important roles. Also Aryan and Shivaprasad play critical roles and complete the troika of five friends, around whom the thriller revolves. Amogh Siddarth, Gaja Ninasam, Prajwal Gowda will haunt you by their weird performances which is a rare treat to Kannada audience. B. Suresh, Ramananda Inakai, Satish Hegde Golikoppa, Pawan Kalmane, Yashoda Hosakatta and Manjunath Bangalore are playing supporting roles. Mahabala Seethalabhavi has written the dialogues. Cinematography is by Govindaraj, while Suri & Loki have Edited the film, with Sarvanaa scoring music and sound designed by Nagaraj Hulivan. 

Manaroopa besides introducing several new faces, also showcases a new forest destination – ‘Karadi Guhe’. But Kiran Hegde has a take – For trekkers traversing through the uncharted territory, guided by unforeseen circumstances and with forest being a mirror shows them their Manaroopa!  An opportunity to unearth prevailing narcissist feelings within us!