Taskara

Taskara is a 2015 Indian Telugu-language thriller written by Kiriti Rambhatla and directed by Chandra Sekhar, with music by Rohit Kumar. It was produced by Libra Media & Entertainment Motion Pictures. It adapts Taskara, a vigilante hacker superhero whom Rambhatla created for the graphic novels of Fenil Comics.

The character

Taskara is the alias of Dr. Arjun Kumar, an Indian-born economist who worked at the IMF before becoming an underground hacker. He steals from wealthy banks and sends the stolen digital currency to poor institutions. His defining traits are intellect, programming skill and deep knowledge of financial systems.

Story

In a futuristic London of 2062, a Financial Times journalist tracks down an anonymous economics professor in India. He wants to know why the World Bank and IMF no longer exist and how paper money gave way to cryptocurrency. The story then turns to a massive hack of India’s central banking system. As intelligence and police officers hunt the hacker, the trail leads to the former IMF economist Arjun Kumar.

Themes

The film weaves economic history into its thriller plot, including the Bretton Woods conference and the Lehman Brothers crash. It is critical of quantitative easing as a tool of central banks and argues that the IMF should do more to help poorer nations.

Graphic novel

The character first appeared in a three-part graphic novel series from Fenil Comics, launched in cities including Bangalore and Delhi. Taskara is part of Fenil Comics’ wider superhero universe, alongside characters such as Fualaad, Bajrangi and Stunt Girl.

Release

The film had its premiere in Hyderabad on 19 December 2015, followed by a theatrical release on 8 January 2016.

Sources: Wikipedia and Wikidata.