Sipaayi (2016 film)

Sipaayi is a 2016 Indian Kannada-language masala film written and directed by Rajath Mayee in his directorial debut. The film stars debutant Siddharth Mahesh, and Sruthi Hariharan alongside Sanchari Vijay, and Achyuth Kumar in supporting roles.

Premise

Siddharth is a news reporter, whose aim is to fight against illegal trading activities in Bangalore. However, his plans are thwarted by a crime boss Virat, who, he along with his friends Divya and Manju, set out to expose and bring to justice.

Cast

Sidharth Mahesh as Siddharth
Sruthi Hariharan as Divya
Sanchari Vijay as Manju
Achyuth Kumar as Narasimharaju
Gaurish Akki as Vishwanath
Krishna Hebbale as Virat
Bharath Singh as Abhay

Production

Rajath Mayee and Siddharth Mahesh met on the sets of Lucia as they both were coproducers of the film. Sruthi Hariharan, who starred in Lucia, was cast in this film. Production started on 19 May 2014. Completed shoot with the song shoot on 4 July 2015.

Soundtrack

B. Ajaneesh Loknath composed the soundtrack of Sipaayi. The lyrics were written by Jayant Kaikini, Hrudaya Shiva, Chethan Kumar and Bharath Venkataswamy. B. Ajaneesh Loknath, Nanditha, Chinmayi, Shashank Sheshagiri, Bobby CR and Udith Haritas lent their voices for the songs. Audio released on 20 May 2016.

Reception

Sunayana Suresh of The Times of India gave 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "The filmmaker has tried his hand at narrating the subject in a non-linear manner. This is interesting, no doubt but the fact that he relies on the usual tropes of commercial cinema is what makes it tedius. While the maker has tried to be different with the screenplay, the commercial must haves like fights and songs slow down the narrative that should have kept one on the edge of the seat." The Hindu wrote "The film is narrated so poorly that it is only in the second half that we even learn about what the lead character does in the film."