| Madhyanam Hathya | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Ram Gopal Varma |
| Written by | Atul Sabharwal |
| Produced by | Varma Corporation |
| Starring | J. D. Chakravarthy Aamani Priyanka Kothari Bhanuchander |
| Cinematography | Chota K. Naidu |
| Edited by | Bhanodaya |
Release date | 3 September 2004 |
Running time | 103 min |
| Country | India |
| Language | Telugu |
Madhyanam Hathya (English : Afternoon Murder) is a 2004 Telugu language Indian crime thriller film directed by Ram Gopal Varma, with cinematography by Chota K. Naidu. The films seems to closely follow the story of Horace William Manton, the main accused in the Luton Sack Murder case. The soundtrack of the film was arranged by Shailendra Swapnil.[citation needed]. It was remade in Hindi as My Wife's Murder (2005) starring Anil Kapoor and Suchitra Krishnamoorthi.[1][2]
A Police Inspector (Bhanuchander) is assigned to investigate the case of the dead woman whose body is recovered from a lake. The cop checks if this matter can be linked with a missing persons' report filed by a film editor Ravi Kumar (J. D. Chakravarthy)[clarification needed] and his father-in-law. The dead woman is identified as Lakshmi (Aamani), Ravi's nagging and abusive wife, whom Ravi kills and packs the dead body in a carton box and dumps the box into a river in the city's outskirts.
According to Ravi, Lakshmi had left their home to go to visit her parents. When she had not arrived at their house 24 hours later, he himself had gone to their house, and on not being able to locate her, had accompanied his father-in-law to the nearest police station and filed a report as she is missing. The cop concludes that Lakshmi was waylaid on her way to her parents' house by person(s) unknown, beaten, and her body was left in the pond. But this case puzzles him, as there was no apparent motive for unknown person(s) to waylay her, as no money was taken, and her body does not shown any signs of sexual molestation. Taking these facts into consideration, The cop starts to suspect Ravi. Ravi's assistant (Priyanka Kothari) tries to help Ravi. However, her involvement makes the matter worse. The movie then takes the audience through thrilling tale of how Ravi makes out of this matter and truth behind Lakshmi's murder.
The film began production in 2001 as Akarshana.[3]
A critic from Sify wrote that "Though the script is credited to Ramu, it is not well crafted and the suspense element is missing. There are no songs and the lead actors like Chakravarthy, Aamni and Priyanka are first class. The chase in the climax has been well- shot by Horseman Babu. On the whole the film is dark and dreary".[4]
