''U Turn'' is a 2016 Indian
Kannada
Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...
-language
supernatural thriller film written, produced and directed by
Pawan Kumar. It stars
Shraddha Srinath
Shraddha Rama Srinath known Professionally as Shraddha Srinath (born 29 September 1990) is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu films. She debuted with the Malayalam film '' Kohinoor'' and gained wide acclai ...
in the lead role.
Roger Narayan
Raj Narayan is an Indian actor who works in predominantly Kannada and English-language films. He is known for playing one of the leads in ''U Turn'' (2016).
Career
Roger Narayan studied engineering at BITS Pilani before deciding to pursue his p ...
,
Dileep Raj
Dileep Raj (born 2 September 1978) is an Indian actor, film/television director and producer known for his work in Kannada cinema. He has appeared in 24 films. After a successful career in television as a supporting actor, he made his film deb ...
and
Radhika Chetan
Radhika Narayan is an Indian actress, working primarily in mainstream Kannada cinema, and in Kannada theater, is a method actress who is known for the selection of her projects.
Early life
Radhika Narayan was born in the Krishna Temple city Ud ...
feature in supporting roles. The plot revolves around the death of motorists who break a traffic rule at a particular flyover in
Bangalore
Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
and subsequent pinning down of the culprit by an intern journalist and police inspector duo. The film received critical acclaim and being remade a lot of times in different languages.
''U-Turn'' was first remade in
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...
in 2017 as ''
Careful''. Director
Pawan Kumar remade it into a
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 ...
-
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nati ...
bilingual in 2018 with the
same title - thereby making it the fourth Kannada movie to be remade in three other South Indian languages after ''
School Master'', ''
Sampathige Savaal
''Sampathige Savaal'' () is a 1974 Indian Kannada-language drama film directed by A. V. Seshagiri Rao and produced by A. N. Murthy, based on the play ''Saahukaara'' written by B. P. Dhuttharagi. The film stars Dr. Rajkumar, Rajkumar, Vajramuni a ...
'' and ''
Devara Kannu
''Devara Kannu'' () is a 1975 Indian Kannada-language film, directed by Y. R. Swamy. The film stars Lokesh, Aarathi, Anant Nag and Ambarish, who were relative newcomers, in supporting roles. The film has musical score by T. G. Lingappa. The fil ...
''.
The movie was remade in
Sinhala in 2019 also titled ''
U Turn
A U-turn in driving refers to performing a 180° rotation to reverse the direction of travel. It is called a "U-turn" because the maneuver looks like the letter U. In some areas, the maneuver is illegal, while in others, it is treated as a m ...
''
- thereby becoming the second Kannada movie to be remade in Sinhala after ''
Anuraga Aralithu
''Anuraga Aralithu'' () is a 1986 Indian Kannada-language film directed by M. S. Rajashekar. It is based on the Kannada novel ''Anuragada Anthahpura'' written by H. G. Radhadevi. The film was produced by M. S. Puttaswamy. The film stars Rajkum ...
''.
The
Filipino
Filipino may refer to:
* Something from or related to the Philippines
** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines.
** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...
remake with the same name was released on pay-to-view basis on 30 October 2020.
With that, ''U Turn'' became the first Indian movie to be remade in
Filipino
Filipino may refer to:
* Something from or related to the Philippines
** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines.
** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...
.
The Bengali remake titled ''
Flyover'' was released on 2 April 2021.
Ekta Kapoor
Ekta Kapoor (born 7 June 1975) is an Indian television producer, film producer and director who works in Hindi cinema and soap opera. She is the joint managing director and creative head of Balaji Telefilms Limited, which was founded in 1994. ...
produced the Hindi remake with the
same title which released on 28 April 2023. With that, it became the third Indian movie to be remade in seven languages after ''
Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana
''Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana'' (; ) is a 2005 Indian Telugu-language romantic comedy film directed by Prabhu Deva in his directorial debut and produced by M. S. Raju under Sumanth Art Productions who gave the screenplay as well. The film stars ...
'' and ''
Anuraga Aralithu
''Anuraga Aralithu'' () is a 1986 Indian Kannada-language film directed by M. S. Rajashekar. It is based on the Kannada novel ''Anuragada Anthahpura'' written by H. G. Radhadevi. The film was produced by M. S. Puttaswamy. The film stars Rajkum ...
''. It was the seventh Kannada movie to be remade in a foreign language and the second Kannada movie to be remade in two foreign languages after ''
Anuraga Aralithu
''Anuraga Aralithu'' () is a 1986 Indian Kannada-language film directed by M. S. Rajashekar. It is based on the Kannada novel ''Anuragada Anthahpura'' written by H. G. Radhadevi. The film was produced by M. S. Puttaswamy. The film stars Rajkum ...
''.
Plot
Rachana (
Shraddha Srinath
Shraddha Rama Srinath known Professionally as Shraddha Srinath (born 29 September 1990) is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu films. She debuted with the Malayalam film '' Kohinoor'' and gained wide acclai ...
), an intern with ''
The Indian Express
''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...
'', a daily newspaper, is working on an article on the accidents at a
flyover in
Bengaluru
Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
. She also has a crush on the crime reporter Aditya, whose help she seeks for research material on accidents on the flyover. She finds that each day some motorists move the concrete blocks that partition the road just to take a quick
U-turn
A U-turn in driving refers to performing a 180° rotation to reverse the direction of travel. It is called a "U-turn" because the maneuver looks like the letter U. In some areas, the maneuver is illegal, while in others, it is treated as a m ...
and avoid the traffic. They don’t move them back and the blocks are left to lie randomly on the road leading to many accidents. A homeless man sitting on the flyover notes down the vehicle numbers of commuters who violate the rule to take the U-turn and gives the list to Rachana. She obtains the details of the culprits using her contact in the traffic department, with the intention of confronting them for their "short-cut" and writing an article for the paper. Her attempt to meet the first person on the list goes in vain.
Later the same day, the police take her into custody and accuse her of killing the same person she wanted to meet. She is shocked and tells her side of the story. Though the senior police officer rejects it, sub-inspector Nayak finds it believable and does some investigation. It is revealed that all the persons Rachana has on her list have committed suicide. They also noticed that they have committed suicide the same day they took the wrong "u-turn". Rachana and Nayak find another number has been noted by the homeless man which is to be delivered to Rachana the next day. The duo trace the address and try to rescue the man, a lawyer, who has taken the u-turn on the same day. As nothing seems suspicious, both leave only to encounter the very death of the lawyer whom they came to rescue.
Later Rachana tries to confront the homeless man for the injuries in the fly-over. Meanwhile, she sees two young men violate the U-Turn and reports it to Nayak. Nayak locks them up in an old Police lock-up to save them. But they start fighting and eventually die under the nose of the police.
With no way of finding the real cause of the death of the culprits, Rachana herself takes the wrong u-turn and waits for something to happen. The one who has been killing the culprits is a ghost named Maya, because she and her daughter Aarna died in an accident due to the concrete roadblocks that were moved by the culprits in order to make way for their u-turn. Using her supernatural powers, Maya tries to kill Rachana as well. But Rachana promises to find the person who was responsible for Maya's death. Maya agrees. Rachana, with the help of Nayak, tries to find the person who moved the blocks on the day of Maya's accident. They find out the phone number and address of the person who moved the block. Rachana writes this on a balloon and leaves it on the flyover for Maya to find. She then invites her boyfriend Aditya for dinner.
During dinner she tries to call the number she found earlier. It turns out to be Aditya's work mobile number. Devastated, she confronts Aditya and informs him that due to his negligence a mother and daughter lost their lives. Aditya says it was not him who made the U-turn. He merely exchanged his bike with his friend. In the final twist, it is revealed that the guy who moved the block was Maya's own husband. Maya's ghost is waiting in Aditya's house to kill him when Maya's husband whom Rachana has informed about the events turns up and explains to Maya that it was because of him that they lost their lives. He then tries to commit suicide by jumping from the balcony. Maya's ghost saves him and tells him that his punishment is to suffer in this world without his wife and daughter.
Cast
*
Shraddha Srinath
Shraddha Rama Srinath known Professionally as Shraddha Srinath (born 29 September 1990) is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu films. She debuted with the Malayalam film '' Kohinoor'' and gained wide acclai ...
as Rachana
*
Roger Narayan
Raj Narayan is an Indian actor who works in predominantly Kannada and English-language films. He is known for playing one of the leads in ''U Turn'' (2016).
Career
Roger Narayan studied engineering at BITS Pilani before deciding to pursue his p ...
as
Sub-inspector
Sub-inspector (SI), or sub-inspector of police, is a rank used extensively in South Asia: in the police forces of Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka, which is primarily based on the British model. It was formerly used in most British col ...
Nayak
*
Radhika Chetan
Radhika Narayan is an Indian actress, working primarily in mainstream Kannada cinema, and in Kannada theater, is a method actress who is known for the selection of her projects.
Early life
Radhika Narayan was born in the Krishna Temple city Ud ...
as Maya
*
Dileep Raj
Dileep Raj (born 2 September 1978) is an Indian actor, film/television director and producer known for his work in Kannada cinema. He has appeared in 24 films. After a successful career in television as a supporting actor, he made his film deb ...
as Aditya
*
Skanda Ashok
Skanda Ashok (born 26 April 1986) is an Indian actor who has appeared in Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu films. He made his breakthrough playing Sooraj Menon in the coming-of-age Malayalam film, '' Notebook'' (2006), before gaining critica ...
as Ritesh
* Krishna Hebbale as Inspector Sudhakar
*
Pratibha Nandakumar
Pratibha Nandakumar (25 January 1955) is an Indian poet, journalist, feminist, columnist and activist who works in Kannada and English. She is considered as one of the pioneers of modern woman's poetry in Kannada literature. For her work ''Kavade ...
as lady constable Sarojamma
*
Pramod Shetty
Pramod shetty an Indian actor known for his work in Kannada cinema. Pramod started his carrier as a theater artist. He also appread in several kannada serial. Pramod made his film debut in 2010 with film ''Jugaari''. He got recognition for his r ...
as Sundar
* Aarna Kulkarni as Aarna
* Chethan D'Souza as Raju
* Kennedi Gopalan as the Homeless flyover man
* Ram Manjjonaath as Police Officer Muddanna
* Rajath Mayee as
auto rickshaw
An auto rickshaw is a motorized version of the pulled rickshaw or cycle rickshaw. Most have three wheels and do not tilt. They are known by many terms in various countries including auto, auto rickshaw, baby taxi, mototaxi, pigeon, jonnybee, bajaj ...
driver
* Surya Vasishta as Doctor
Production
According to the director, the script of the movie took place on the road. He says, "U-Turn happened in July when I used to drop my daughter Lucy to school and traffic used to be high. I used to park in front of her school for more than an hour and used the time to write the script."
"U Turn", which has been made under Pawan Kumar's newly launched banner PK Studios, has Poornachandra Tejaswi's music, Satya Hegde, Advitha Gurumurthy and Siddharth Nuni's cinematography and Suresh's editing. Shraddha Srinath and Dilip Raj, who has done many supporting roles before, are playing the main roles. Roger Narayan, Skanda, Krishna, Pavan, Naveen, Divya, Pramod, Aarna, Kennedy, Chethan D'Souza, Delson D'Souza and others are in the cast.
Reception
Sunayana Suresh of ''
The Times of India
''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...
'' rated the film four out of five, and wrote, "The film can be read on philosophical and symbolic levels with leitmotifs and what not, but the triumph is that it even appeals to the lay viewer who seeks thrill and entertainment and nothing more." Shyam Prasad S of ''
Bangalore Mirror
''Bangalore Mirror'' is a daily English-language newspaper published in Bangalore, India. It is a deputed newspaper and is the second-largest circulating English newspaper in the city
''Vijay Times''
''Vijay Times'' was an English newspaper st ...
'' wrote, "It is what happens post interval that makes or breaks any film. Here,
Pawan Kumar takes the easier route and robs U-Turn of becoming a great film." J Hurtado of
Screen Anarchy
Screen Anarchy, previously known as Twitch Film or Twitch, is a Canadian English-language website featuring news and reviews of mainly international, independent and cult films. The website was founded in 2004 by Todd Brown. In addition to films, ...
wrote, "Pawan Kumar's U TURN Will Keep You Guessing Until The Last Minute. U-Turn is a film that constantly challenges and defies categorization in the service of telling its own story."
Remakes
''U Turn'' was remade in
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...
in 2017 as ''
Careful''. It was later remade into a
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 ...
-
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nati ...
bilingual in 2018
with the same title by Pawan Kumar himself. The film was also officially remade in Sri Lanka in
Sinhala in 2019
with the same title.
The
Filipino
Filipino may refer to:
* Something from or related to the Philippines
** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines.
** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...
remake with the same title was released on 30 October 2020.
The film was remade in Bengali as ''
Flyover'' and released on 2 April 2021.
The Hindi remake with the
same title was released on 28 April 2023 by
Ekta Kapoor
Ekta Kapoor (born 7 June 1975) is an Indian television producer, film producer and director who works in Hindi cinema and soap opera. She is the joint managing director and creative head of Balaji Telefilms Limited, which was founded in 1994. ...
. The director had revealed that the rights for the Malay language remake were sold out. He also revealed that there are plans to remake the film in Chinese, Thai, Marathi and Gujarati.
References
External source
*
*
{{U Turn and its remakes
2016 films
2010s Kannada-language films
2010s Indian films
Indian thriller films
Films set in Bangalore
Films shot in Bangalore
Kannada films remade in other languages
2016 thriller films