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ReviewThe film tries too hard to be like 'Bangarada Manushya' and has little to offer beyond the similarities. Aravind Shwetha2019 ended with a bang for Kannada cine-goers with Avane Srimannarayana running to packed houses. But the 2020 opening film has come as a huge let-down. This week's film, the Mayur Patel starrer Rajeeva, has failed to be a crowd-puller, thanks to the lacklustre narrative. Rajeeva - the very name is special for Kannadigas, thanks to the iconic role played by Dr Rajkumar in the film Bangarada Manushya. The hugely entertaining 1972 Eastman colour movie ran houseful shows in theaters for almost two years. The impact of the movie was such that many youths went back to their villages to cultivate their lands, which they had once given up for the conveniences of urban life. The movie, still one of the best films of the Kannada film industry, enjoys the status of a classic.

Kwesé iflix, the multiplatform African entertainment network, announced a slate of original programming Thursday, marking its first foray into original content in a region with a large youth population and fast-growing Internet and smartphone penetration.

Each of the three new original series comes from a different African country – Kenya, Tanzania and Nigeria – in a reflection of the continent’s diversity but also the challenge of developing content that can cross borders. Kwesé iflix’s CEO Mayur Patel said that the new slate “underlines Kwesé iflix’s ambition to lead an entertainment revolution” in Africa and that it “pushes the limits” for local content.

“We are thrilled to work with local top-tier industry players to offer our users some of the region’s top entertainment franchises,” he said. “We want to grow and establish Kwesé iflix as the new home for the region’s most talented producers and actors.”

Kwesé, a subsidiary of Econet Media,...