A (1998 Kannada film)

Plot

A foreign woman Marina wants to distribute the unreleased controversial film A directed by Soorya. However the censor board permits only twenty random minutes to be screened and the climax is censored to such a extent that it no longer made any sense. She suggests its producers to re-shoot the film. However, Soorya is not in a position to participate in the films shoot as he became a drunkard after actress Chandini, who debuted with his film, rejects his love. Sooryas family is unable to meet their ends after he stops directing films. Lost in her thoughts, he wanders near her house every night drunk, only to be expelled by her henchmen.

On one of such nights, Soorya is badly beaten up and is admitted in a hospital by Marina and team. There, Sooryas once assistant directors explain Sooryas past to Marina. Soorya was a successful director who has no feelings, especially on a womans love. After his current female lead fails to act properly, he casts Chandini after a chain of events. Initially, Soorya rejects Chandinis love, but after frequent run-ins, and days of pursuit, Soorya falls in love with her madly. He later meets a rich and busy Chandini, who lives in a big bungalow and is the mistress of a wealthy married businessman. She defends herself saying that Sooryas views on materialistic world influenced her to give priority to money over everything after her fathers death. He tries to explain her that she is wrong, but is expelled.

Since then, Soorya gave up everything and became an alcoholic, wandering near her house everyday with a hope that she would accept him. He escapes from the hospital and is confronted by Marina, to whom Soorya explains about his love for Chandini. He then saves an novice actress named Archana from a group of henchmen who are revealed to be Chandinis. Archana reveals that Chandini is used as a bait by the politicians to trap Soorya and stop his A from release and Chandini in turn exploited the weakness of those politicians by way of casting couch. She proves this to Soorya who along with his father and Archana are arrested on charges of prostitution. Those police were bribed by Chandini who abducts Archana while Soorya and his father are arrested.

Soorya and his father are released on bail by Marina and the plight of his family makes Soorya swear revenge. He restarts the shoot of A and meanwhile turns a superstar due to the success of the films starring him. The climax shoot is pending and Soorya wants to shoot it real, which actually is the murder of Chandini in a burning house. the camera rolls and Soorya kidnaps Chandini from her house where she kills the businessman. He brings her to the location and sets it on fire after rolling the camera. She knocks him out who falls unconscious after hitting a rock. Archana, Marina and the producers come to the spot to save hm.

Archana shows him the footage of the shot film after revealing that Chandini actually is a good woman who wanted to bring Soorya back to normal by acting as a ruthless criminal who is destroying the lives of many actresses like Archana. The footage shows a naked Chandini dying and revealing the truth. She says that the businessman was a friend of few corrupt politicians who wanted to have sex with her. They kill her father and rape her. This process is captured in a camera and the businessman blackmails Chandini showing them. As per their directions, she had to cheat Soorya. But with the help of Archana, she brings him back to normal and gives A a perfect ending. Soorya tries to save her by entering the house but she dies asking him to live long and makes films that make his people proud.

Cast

Box office response

A was made at ?1.25 crore and collected more than ?20 crore at the box office. The film ran for 25 weeks in Karnataka and its Telugu version ran for 100 days in Andhra Pradesh.

Critical reception

It was described by a reviewer as "loud and disjointed, like the ramblings of a delirious mind, but made a lot of sense". Its design received some praise. It provoked some controversy over anti-women remarks and may contain some autobiographical elements.

Soundtrack

Gurukiran composed the music for the film and the soundtracks. The album has five soundtracks.

Awards