Agnyathavasi (2025)

Agnyathavasi 2025: a village murder in Malenadu

Agnyathavasi 2025 is a Kannada-language crime mystery directed by Janardhan Chikkanna from a story by Krishna Raj. It is set in the late 1990s in Nalkeri, a village in the Malenadu hill region of Karnataka. The detail that matters for the premise is the setting: a place so peaceful that a police inspector, who also tends his own farm, has little experience of serious crime.

When a landlord dies, that inspector, played by Rangayana Raghu as Inspector Govindu according to ZEE5's cast list, decides it is murder. From there the film is described as an investigation drama rather than a chase thriller. We have not watched it, so we cannot comment on how well the mystery is built.

The title is a Kannada word that refers to a person living in hiding or exile, which is worth keeping in mind as a thematic hint, though the film's own use of it is not something we can confirm.

Release date, OTT and runtime

The film was released in theatres on 11 April 2025. Wikipedia lists a running time of 122 minutes. For streaming, ZEE5 is the platform, but sources give different premiere dates: Wikipedia says 16 May 2025, while ZEE5's own blog and a search summary point to 28 May 2025. Since the dates conflict, we are not stating one as fact; open ZEE5 and search the title to see the current status in your country.

Cast, crew and who it suits

Alongside Rangayana Raghu, the listed cast includes Paavana Gowda as Pankaja, Siddu Moolimani as Rohit, Sharath Lohitashwa as the landlord Srinivasaiah and Ravishankar Gowda as Ananthu. Music is by Charan Raj, cinematography by Advaitha Gurumurthy and editing by Bharath M. C. The production banner is Dakshayini Talkies, with Hemanth M. Rao among the producers.

This suits viewers who enjoy rural crime stories where setting and local texture matter as much as the whodunit, and those interested in Kannada cinema beyond its star-led action films. Anyone wanting fast pacing and large set pieces may find the premise too quiet. One outlet claims a link to a real 1997 incident, but we found only a single source for that, so treat it as unconfirmed.

Readers new to Malenadu may find the setting itself a draw: the region of forested hills, areca farms and heavy monsoon is a distinct backdrop in Kannada cinema, and a period setting in the late 1990s means no smartphones, so investigation depends on talking to people and reading small clues.