Shhh! (film)

Shhh!
DVD Cover
Directed by	Upendra
Written by	Upendra
Produced by	Kumar Govind
Starring	Kumar Govind Kashinath
Cinematography	Ashok Kashyap
Edited by	R. Janardhan
Music by	Sadhu Kokila
Production company	SK Films
Release date	3 December 1993 (1993-12-03)
Running time	130 minutes
Country	India
Language	Kannada

Shhh! is a 1993 Indian

A young boy comes out of his house at midnight to relieve himself, where he hears some leaves rustling in the distance, and looks up to see what it is. His face suddenly bears an expression of horror, and he screams at the top of his lungs. A few days later, a shooting crew led by veteran Kannada director Kashinath is on their way to start filming their newly approved film. For shooting, they have selected Onti Mane Estate, a lonely estate feared in the vicinity. As they try to find their way, they encounter a series of mishaps, which irritates Kashinath. They arrive at the estate, where they meet the estate owner Nagraj Rao. Nagraj Rao's daughter Bharathi keeps playing hilarious pranks on Kashinath and the film's protagonist Kumar. Kumar is instantly attracted to Bharathi due to her outgoing and charming personality and falls in love with her.

As the shooting progresses, strange events start taking place, where the demon ghost's costume starts smoking in the middle of the night and Kumar witnesses a hooded figure leaving Nagraj Rao's house. When he tries to follow the figure, Rao's brother-in-law stops him and warns him not to roam around the estate at night. A few hours later, a demonic figure (wearing the film's ghost costume) nabs him from behind and carrys him to the top of estate hill which is a dilapidated house. Frightened by his disappearance, Nagaraj Rao's wife lodges a complaint, where

On seeing his family members disappearing one by one, Nagaraj Rao is distraught. Surprisingly, his son Krishna and Bharati least bothered with all these. Later, a top cop accuses Kashinath to be responsible for all murders. It is later revealed that he was just an aspiring actor trying to impress Kashinath with his acting skills. Meanwhile, the police superintendent takes SI Kalappa to task and issues orders to intensify investigations. Tragedy strikes the film crew, when the assistant director is found brutally murdered and the demon's play intensifies with many supernatural occurrences, making the people believe that a ghost is indeed haunted the estate. As Kumar and Kashinath try to demystify the deaths, they find holes and trenches dug in sporadic parts of the estate, leaving them confounded.

As the days pass, tragedy strikes Nagaraj Rao's family again when Krishna is brutally murdered. Kashinath finds a vital artifact, a golden token of

Now that the vengeful goal of eliminating Mr. Rao's family is complete, the demon and his brother commit suicide by drinking cyanide in front of the doctor. Kumar wakes up and reaches the burnt-down house to find them dead. The doctor reveals that the demon is the production manager Srikanta, who had earlier faked his death and his brother, who was an accomplice in his crimes of brutally murdering Rao's family. Kashinath, Bharati, and others rush to see it and Bharthi is relieved. But to everyone's surprise, Srikantha tries to strangle Bharthi. Before he can do anything serious, the Superintendent kills him. The film ends with Kashinath wishing Kumar and Bharthi a happy and peaceful married life as they leave the estate after wrapping their shooting.

Cast

Production

Upendra and his friends started working on a story during college holidays called Nigooda Neralugalu which eventually took different forms and finally took the shape of this movie story.^[2]

Soundtrack

• "Avanalli Ivalilli" -
  L. N. Shastry, Chandrika Gururaj
• "Dava Dava Nadukava" - S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Manjula Gururaj

The audio has two more songs which were not found in the movie.

• " One Day Sunday Ninna Kandenu" - S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Manjula Gururaj
• " Ee Bhayadalleno Thrill Ide" -
  L. N. Shastry , Upendra
  , Shivaji Rao

The film was summarily praised by critics and fans. Upendra as a director was hailed for his ability to maintain the suspense element of the movie till the end.[3] It also became a benchmark movie for Sadhu Kokila who is now a very well acclaimed and respected musician and actor.

Box office

This film went on to be a major commercial success. It created a new trend of suspense thriller movies in Kannada cinema. It established Upendra as a well-known director. It completed 100 days in 26 centres. The film was later dubbed in Telugu.^[4]

Awards

Karnataka State Film Awards 1993-94

• Third Best Film
• Best Editor - R. Janardhan

References