Ardhashathabdam (2021)

Ardhashathabdam ('half a century') is a 2021 Telugu drama directed by Rawindra Pulle and set in a Telangana village. A young man played by Karthik Rathnam has silently loved a girl played by Krishna Priya, but a small incident between them is twisted by caste prejudice and political interests into a conflict that spreads through the village, with Naveen Chandra in a key role. The title points to the fifty years of Indian independence after which, the film argues, inequality still decides lives. It is a raw, realistic film in the vein of rural caste dramas.