Edegarike

Plot

Sona (Aditya), a hitman, decides to relinquish his life of crime which unnerves his boss, who decides to have him contract killed.

Cast

Development

Edegarike was a crime novel written by journalist Agni Shridhar in the early 2000s about the India Mafia circling around Mumbai and Bangalore headed a mafia leader from Dubai. The novel had been a chart topper for several weeks and proved a hit among readers. Since then, around 15 attempts were made to adapt it into a film. Following this, Sumana Kittur who had earlier directed Slum Bala and Kallara Santhe took up the project.

Casting and filming

Following the announcement of the film in October 2010, reports said Kishore would be playing one of the three lead roles of mafia dons in the film. Bhavana had been signed in to play the female lead in the film. However, she had to back out due to health grounds, a role that eventually went to Aakanksha Mansukhani, who had earlier appeared and won praise for her performance in the 2011 Kannada film Olave Mandhara. Aditya was then signed in to play the lead role in the film, with Srujan Lokesh to play a supporting character. Filming that began in late-2011 continued for a period of 35 days in places such as Bangalore, Sakleshpur, Mangalore. It completed in June 2012.

Soundtrack

Sadhu Kokila composed music for the film's soundtrack, and the lyrics were written by Sumana Kittur. The album consists of one soundtrack. Kokila also sung the track.

Screenings

As a part of screening marking 100 years of Indian cinema, Edegarike was screened at the Puerto Rico Film Institute in 2013. It was then screened at the first edition of the Mumbai Women's International Film Festival in October 2013, as the only Indian film. Following this the film was screened at the 6th edition of the Bangalore International Film Festival in January 2014, where it was awarded the Special Jury Award.

Critical reception

Upon release, the film opened to positive reviews from critics. The film's direction, screenplay and the performances of all the lead actors received praise. G. S. Kumar of The Times of India reviewed the film giving it a rating of four out of five and wrote, "Gripping narration and excellent screenplay with a touch of romance make the story quite interesting." He concluding writing praises of the performances of actors playing pivotal roles in the film. Writing for Daily News and Analysis, Shruti I. L. gave the film a 3.5/5 rating and wrote, "The film remains loyal to the book and comes only with a few changes that are needed to cater to cinematic sensibilities. The script and screenplay is aptly supported by hard hitting and thought provoking dialogues" and added, "Director Suman Kittur has managed to extract stellar performances from each of her actors. Lead actors Adithya and Atul Kulkarni steal the show with their understated acts." Newstrackindia gave the film a 3/5 rating and said the film "rides high on good script [and] powerful performances". It added that "a good script, background score and perfect locations back the film." The reviewer concluded praising the roles of acting, cinematography and music in the film, calling Aditya's performance "top class".