''Gatham'' () is a 2020 Indian

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

-language

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by Kiran Kondamadugula and starring Bhargava Poludasu, Rakesh Galebhe, and Poojitha Kuraparthi. It premiered on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

on 6 November 2020. The film was selected in the Indian Panorama of feature films 2020 and was screened at

International Film Festival of India The International Film Festival of India (IFFI), founded in 1952, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. Held annually, currently in the state of Goa, on the western coast of the country, the festival aims at providing a common pla ...

in January 2021. Entire film was shot in California, USA during extreme winter conditions that lasted 28 days from December to January 2019. Originally, the makers planned for a theatrical release, but due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, it was decided to release the film through the OTT service

. The film was released worldwide on 6 November 2020 to generally positive reviews. After the successful run with

, Gatham is streaming o
Netflix
currently.

Plot

Rishi (Rakesh Galebhe) wakes up from a coma and remembers nothing from his past. He sets out on a journey along with his girlfriend Meera (Poojitha Kuraparthi) to visit Rishi's father, but their car breaks down in a route. A stranger (Bhargava Poludasu) offers them a stay at his house, and as their stay extends, Rishi gets nightmares and the stranger behaves freakishly. With each passing moment, there are startling twists, and many dots between Rishi's past and the stranger get connected, which leaves the couple shell-shocked. What is Rishi's connection with the stranger and how does he and Meera come out of the weird situation is the story of Gatham.

Cast

* Bhargava Poludasu as Arjun * Rakesh Galebhe as Rishi * Poojitha Kuraparthi as Meera * Thirumudi Thulasiraman as Ramesh * Harsha Vardhan Pratap as Harsha * Uss Uppuluri as Dr. Srikanth * Sof Puchley as Sarah Peters * Raghu Gopal as Laxman * Prasad Rani as Dr. Viswa * Rohit Devullapally as Care Taker * Lakshmi Bharadwaj

Production

The film was produced in the United States. It is based on Kiran Kondamadugula's own short film and was shot in

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City, Nevad ...

Sricharan Pakala Sricharan Pakala is an Indian music composer who works in the Telugu films. Early life and career Pakala was born in Visakhapatnam into a Telugu-speaking family. Pakala entered the film industry as a music director with the Telugu film ''KISS' ...

scored the music for the film.

Release

Due to

, the film was only released on

on 6 November.

Reception

Rajeev Masand Rajeev Masand is an Indian film critic and journalist. He has worked for Noida based English language news channel CNN-Indian Broadcasting Network (CNN-IBN). He usually reviews Bollywood films and major Hollywood films released in India in hi ...

praised the movie quoting "How a scrappy little indie movie found its way to an organic success!" Vishal Menon of ''

Film Companion Anupama Chopra () is an Indian author, journalist, film critic and director of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. She is also the founder and editor of the digital platform Film Companion, which offers a curated look at cinema. She has written sev ...

'' wrote, "''Gatham'' is one of those films that’s impossible to talk about without revealing spoilers but it’s a credit to its makers that viewers feel like running around explaining the crafty deception of the film they’ve just watched." Sangeetha Devi Dundoo, writing for ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'', said that "''Gatham'' is a deceptively engaging thriller." Neeshita Nyayapati, writing for ''

Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, t ...

'', summarized Gatham as "Uncomfortable and gritty, Gatham will keep you engaged from the get-go." Bhuvanesh Chandar of

The New Indian Express ''The New Indian Express'' is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Chennai-based Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as ''The Indian Express'', under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naid ...

wrote, "Outstanding suspense cinema that checks all boxes." Sushri Sahu of

Mashable Mashable is a digital media platform, news website and entertainment company founded by Pete Cashmore in 2005. History Mashable was founded by Pete Cashmore while living in Aberdeen, Scotland, in July 2005. Early iterations of the site were a ...

wrote, "A Lackluster NRI Film That Reveals Itself To Be A Taut Psychological Thriller"

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 13105536 2020 films 2020 thriller films Indian thriller films 2020s Telugu-language films Films set in the United States Films shot in the United States Films scored by Sricharan Pakala Amazon Prime Video original films