kaiva (2023)

Kaiva is a period drama set in Bengaluru in 1983, inspired by true incidents. The film contrasts the glittering pageantry of the world-famous Bengaluru Karaga festival with the city's shadowy underworld, weaving a story of love, power and moral conflict against a richly detailed historical backdrop. Watching Kaiva, you’ll be immersed in the sights and sounds of old Bengaluru: crowded streets lit by festival lamps, ritual processions, and carefully recreated period production design that evokes nostalgia and place. That visual grandeur is balanced by a gritty, tense atmosphere as the film explores the darker forces at work behind the city’s celebrations. The romance at the center of the story grows in this charged environment, offering tender, intimate moments that collide with violence, intrigue and difficult choices. The viewer can expect a blend of emotional drama and suspense — atmospheric cinematography, evocative music, and performances that emphasize moral ambiguity and human vulnerability. Themes of tradition versus survival, loyalty, and the costs of ambition run through the narrative, making Kaiva both a cultural portrait and a character-driven drama. Overall, Kaiva delivers an immersive, bittersweet experience: visually striking festival sequences, a slow-burn romantic core, and a gritty crime-inflected undercurrent that will appeal to viewers who like thoughtful period dramas with emotional stakes and atmospheric tension.

Actors: Dhanveerrah, B M Giriraj, Nanda Gopal

Director: Jayathirtha

Genres: Drama, Romance

8.7 /10 8.7 /10