The Purushottam Karandak — a real-life inter-college festival in which theater students compete head-to-head — becomes an ideological battleground in this bold,brilliant exploration of the creative impulse. IFFLA alum Kranti Kanade leaves no radical idea or experimental flourish behind as he tells the story of Chetan, an aspiring young writer who dreams of winning the competition but struggles to find his own artistic voice. After Chetan clashes with his tyrannical acting professor, he enlists his own group of misfits to perform a play against his college’s official team. If only he could come up with a great story and keep his own temper and libido in check. And should true art even be placed in a competition, where one vision is declared the best?
Direction
Kanade's restless camera mirrors creative mania perfectly.
Writing
Dialogue that weaponizes theater kid pretension beautifully.
Acting
Mahajan and Saraswat's rivalry crackles with intellectual testosterone.
Director
Kranti Kanadé
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The Purushottam Karandak is Maharashtra's most prestigious college theater competition, making this India's answer to 'Whiplash' for the humanities set.
Kanade deliberately cast non-Marathi speakers and had them learn lines phonetically, creating the alienation effect Brecht would have killed for.
No ratings yet
Sign in to join the discussion — comments are spoiler-gated to your watch progress.
Discussion starters
IN
