title: Private investigator

text: The PI genre in fiction dates to Edgar Allan Poe, who created the character C. Auguste Dupin in the 1840s. Dupin, an amateur crime-solver residing in Paris, appeared in three Poe stories. In addition, Sherlock Holmes, created by Arthur Conan Doyle in the late 1880s, is arguably the most prominent private investigator in fiction.


title: Private investigator

text: Where the characters below do not meet the strict criteria of a private investigator (i.e. available for hire) it is noted in brackets.


title: Nikki Blonsky

text: Nicole Blonsky (born November 9, 1988) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and internet personality. She is known for playing Tracy Turnblad in the film "Hairspray" (2007), for which she won two Critics' Choice Awards and received nominations for a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.


title: Nikki Blonsky

text: Blonsky has starred as Willamena Rader in the ABC Family series "Huge" (2010), for which she received a Teen Choice Award nomination, had a recurring role as Margot on the series "Smash" (2013), and had roles in the films "Geography Club" (2013) as Therese and "The Last Movie Star" (2017) as Faith. She is a licensed cosmetologist.


title: Nikki Blonsky

text: Blonsky was born and raised in Great Neck, New York. She and her brother Joey are the children of Karen, a school aide, and Carl Blonsky, a municipal worker for the village water pollution control district. Her father is Jewish, and her mother is Roman Catholic.


title: Nikki Blonsky

text: Blonsky attended Great Neck North Middle School and attended John L. Miller Great Neck North High School, and switched to Village School after a year at the latter. She additionally attended the after-school theatre program at William A. Shine Great Neck South High School daily, where she participated in productions of "Les Misérables", "", "Kiss Me, Kate", and the title role of the opera "Carmen".


title: Nikki Blonsky

text: Blonsky made her screen debut as Tracy Turnblad in the musical feature film "Hairspray", which is an adaptation of the musical of the same name. She auditioned for the role as a high-school student with no professional acting or singing background at the time, and beat out eleven-hundred candidates. The film was released to commercial and critical success, and became Blonsky's breakthrough role. She received praise for her performance, with Roger Ebert of The "Chicago Sun-Times" writing "Without somebody like Nikki Blonsky at the heart of the movie, it might fall flat, but everybody works at her level of happiness..." She received several awards and nominations, including winning two Critic's Choice Awards for Best Actress and Best Acting Ensemble, and being nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.


title: Nikki Blonsky

text: On June 22, 2008, she sang The Star-Spangled Banner in the pre-race ceremony at the 2008 Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway. Blonsky also co-starred in the MTV mystery series "Valemont" in 2009. In 2010, Blonsky co-starred with Raven Goodwin in the short lived ABC Family series "Huge", which premiered in June 2010, and ran for one season. "Entertainment Weekly" described her as the show's "great asset" and praised her for having "the delicate skill to make Will’s anger take the forms of both sincerity and a funny sarcasm." For "Huge", she received a nomination for a Teen Choice Award.


title: Nikki Blonsky

text: In 2011, Blonsky earned a cosmetology license, and began working part-time as a hairstylist and make-up artist in her hometown of Great Neck, New York, between acting auditions. In 2013, Blonsky appeared in two episodes of the NBC Broadway drama series "Smash". Later that year, she appeared in the film adaptation of the book "Geography Club". The film received mixed reviews, however she and the cast were nominated for an award at the ShoWest Convention in 2014.


title: Nikki Blonsky

text: Blonsky appeared Off-Broadway in the play "Stuffed" by Lisa Lampanelli at the Westside Theatre in October 2017 to November 2017. In 2020, Blonsky launched her video blogging series on her Instagram account, in which she chats with other celebrities.


title: Nikki Blonsky

text: In July 2008, Blonsky and her parents were involved in a violent confrontation with the family of Bianca Golden, a former contestant on "America's Next Top Model", at the Providenciales International Airport in Turks and Caicos. Golden, Blonsky, and Blonsky's father were all charged with assault. That December, the charges against Blonsky and Golden were dropped.


title: Nikki Blonsky

text: In June 2020, Blonsky came out as a lesbian in a video posted to the social media site TikTok set to the song "I'm Coming Out" by Diana Ross. In August 2020, Blonsky confirmed that she currently resides on Long Island. In 2022, Blonsky announced her engagement to her partner Hailey Jo Jenson.


title: Blood-C

text: Blood-C (stylized as BLOOD-C) is a 2011 Japanese anime television series co-created by studio Production I.G and manga artist group CLAMP. It is the second anime series in the "" franchise following the 2005–2006 series "Blood+". The original 12-episode series aired during 2011, with a sequel film, "" releasing in Japanese theaters the following year. The anime was subsequently adapted into two manga, a 2011 novelization, a 2015 stage play, and three live-action films.


title: Blood-C

text: "Blood-C" focuses on Saya Kisaragi, an outwardly normal teenage high school girl who serves as a shrine maiden to a country town; in reality, she is a skilled swordswoman charged by her father to defeat Elder Bairns, monsters who feed on human blood. As her battles grow more desperate and more people she cares for fall victim to the Elder Bairns, Saya begins finding faults in her reality, and eventually uncovers a disturbing truth about herself, the town and her surviving friends.


title: Blood-C

text: "Blood-C" was designed to share only thematic similarities with earlier "Blood" projects. CLAMP was brought on board to both design the characters and help create the scenario. It featured several new elements to the "Blood" franchise, such as being primarily set within a high school environment. The Elder Bairns were inspired by the Great Old Ones from H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, and modeled after traditional Japanese monsters. Its bloody violence, a stylistic choice following the series' themes, resulted in censorship in Japan and eventual blacklisting in China. The series has received mixed to positive reviews from journalists.


title: Blood-C

text: "Blood-C" is set in an isolated rural town on the shore of Lake Suwa in Nagano Prefecture. Saya Kisaragi is the shrine maiden of the Shinto shrine run by her father Tadayoshi, and is outwardly a friendly and clumsy high school girl—her circle of friends include neighbor and cafe owner Fumito Nanahara; school friends Yūka Amino, twins Nene and Nono Motoe, class president Itsuki Tomofusa, the taciturn Shinichirō Tokizane; and Saya's schoolroom teacher Kanako Tsutsutori.


title: Blood-C

text: But while living a normal school life by day, Saya and her father spend the night defending the village against Elder Bairns, monsters who possess inanimate objects to stalk humans and feed on their blood. Saya's skills in the "art of the sword" enable her to defeat the Elder Bairns, but those capable of speech accuse Saya and the humans of violating a covenant dubbed "Shrovetide". Saya also encounters a talking dog which says it is here to grant someone's wish, and suffers from blanks in her memory and is pained by headaches whenever she tries to remember.


title: Blood-C

text: Saya's battles with the Elder Bairns become increasingly desperate as they begin attacking during the day, and both Nene and Nono fall victim, leaving Saya deeply hurt. Shinichirō eventually learns of Saya's burden and offers to help, but is later killed himself. An attack on Saya's school results in everyone but Saya and Itsuki dying before Saya can kill the attacking Elder Bairn. Saya later realizes that only her class and their teacher Kanako were present in the school. Due to the blanks in her memory and comments from the Elder Bairns, she begins questioning her identity and mission.


title: Blood-C

text: After the attack that kills Shinichirō, Kanako asks to see Tadayoshi's library, which contains information on the Elder Bairns. They find that the library is a fake, then Kanako confronts Saya with the living Nono, Nene and Shinichirō before forcing her to drink Elder Bairn blood. It is revealed that the town's entire population, including those close to Saya, were actors in an experiment organized by Fumito, and that Saya is actually an Elder Bairn in human form. She had sworn an oath not to kill humans and in turn hunted her own kind, but Fumito captured her and subjected her to an experiment. Saya was implanted with false memories of her past "human life," all with the goal of seeing whether her inner self could be altered so the oath could be broken. Whenever Saya began relapsing and remembering her past, Fumito used drugs and hypnosis to make her docile again, and all the Elder Bairns she faced were controlled by Fumito using her blood. Kanako had wanted to use Saya to prove the existence of Elder Bairns, suborning Nono, Nene and Shinichirō to help her.


title: Blood-C

text: Fumito, Itsuki and Yūka then confront them, with Fumito unleashing an Elder Bairn that brutally kills Nono, Nene and Shinichirō for their treachery. Saya saves Kanako from the Elder Bairn while killing it, but Kanako is then killed by Tadayoshi, revealed to be a human-Elder Bairn hybrid driven berserk by an overdose of Saya's blood given by Fumito. Saya—now back to her true self—is forced to kill Tadayoshi, and witnesses Fumito release an artificial Elder Bairn which slaughters the town's population before Saya kills it. Fumito's soldiers attempt to shoot Saya, but Itsuki sacrifices himself to save her as he had grown to love her. Fumito and Yūka—who participated so as to achieve political power with Fumito's help—escape on a helicopter. When Saya tries to stop them, Fumito shoots her. Recovering on the lakeside, Saya learns from the dog that her wish was to remain herself when in Fumito's experiment, and that she must now pursue her next wish. Saya sets off in pursuit of Fumito.


title: Blood-C

text: "Blood-C" was a collaborative production between Production I.G and CLAMP. Production I.G is an animation studio that had created the "Blood" franchise with the 2000 film "", which was the studio's first attempt at an original in-house project. CLAMP is an all-female manga artist group made up of writer Nanase Ohkawa and artists Mokona, Tsubaki Nekoi, and Satsuki Igarashi. The main staff included both newcomers and people who had worked on previous entries in the "Blood" franchise. These included concept supervisor and co-writer Junichi Fujisaku, one of the original creators of the "Blood" franchise; and director Tsutomu Mizushima, whose most notable recent work was the anime adaptation of CLAMP's manga "xxxHolic". Background artwork was created by Hiromasa Ogura, and setting artwork was created by Kazuo Kanpei of Kusanagi. 3D CGI was handled by Tsukamoto Mori. The music was composed by Naoki Satō, whose previous work included "Sword of the Stranger". The opening theme "Spiral" was performed by Dustz, who worked hard to make the song a suitable addition to the "Blood" canon and incorporated both Japanese and French lyrics. The ending theme, "Junketsu Paradox", was sung by Nana Mizuki—the voice actress for Saya—who used the anime's story as inspiration and incorporated archaic phrases for the lyrics. The production team was dubbed "Project BLOOD-C TV".


title: Blood-C

text: When developing plans for "Blood-C", it was decided to shift its setting based on positive feedback from the change of setting between "Blood: The Last Vampire" and the franchise's first anime series "Blood+". The only elements to be retained were the first name of the main character, having a katana as her weapon, and the basic premise of her defeating monsters with that sword. The wish for the project to be distinct from earlier entries was what spurred the collaboration with CLAMP, which became a large part of the anime's marketing campaign. Fujisaku, when asked in an interview to describe his one creative ambition for the series, said that it was to fully expand and build upon the basic concept established in "Blood: The Last Vampire". The choice of a school setting, the first of its kind to be featured in the "Blood" franchise, was chosen because Mizushima wanted to portray a school life for Saya. When asked, Mizushima did not find the change from his previous comedy anime-based turnout a barrier to his work, but did feel pressure when handling a project within the "Blood" franchise.


title: Blood-C

text: The scripts were written by Ohkawa and Fujisaku. While Ohkawa took charge of each episode's dialogue, Fujisaku handled fight sequences. Fujisaku pointedly avoided contributing too much to the dialogue as Ohkawa's writing had a very distinctive style, his alterations made only due to story inconsistencies. The series was composed in a way that gradually revealed the central mystery while pitting Saya against progressively stronger foes. The setting's intensely "normal" appearance was designed to make viewers feel uneasy as faults begin appearing in Saya's everyday life. According to Ohkawa, the main theme of the series was examination of the hero's role as a lonely protector of the innocent. Alongside this was the portrayal of Saya's seemingly normal life and now her role as the town's protector began intruding upon this everyday life. The final episodes were intended to evoke viewer sympathy for Saya due to the terrible ordeal she had been subjected to. The series broke from conventions of a hero-focused anime by portraying the relationships between Saya and those close to her in a very shallow way during the opening episodes. For the final few episodes, when the truth is revealed about Saya and her school life, the supporting cast were generally portrayed as "hateful" people that the viewers would wish to see die. So as to keep the series' twist ending a secret, the entire voice cast including Mizuki and Nojima—the respective voice actors of Saya and Fumito—were told nothing about the final episode's events. A different interview revealed that each cast member was only given the scripts for three episodes at any one time to preserve secrecy. The subtitle of each episode was drawn from the Japanese poetry anthology "Ogura Hyakunin Isshu". The series made regular use of bloody violence, which was exaggerated to distance viewers from the show's horrific elements. Despite this, the director said the show was not deliberately focused on bloody violence.


title: Blood-C

text: The design of the main cast was handled by CLAMP. According to Mizushima, the team wanted to portray Saya in a far more human way than her previous incarnations, ending up creating a character more human than even the true human characters. Saya's character as a long-haired, song-singing meganekko (girl in glasses) almost entirely created by CLAMP. Due to the stark differences between this version of Saya and previous versions, Fujisaku did not use her original surname "Otonashi", so viewers could clearly distinguish Saya's portrayal from previous entries. When deciding upon her strength, Mizushima decided to use Hit-Girl from the movie "Kick-Ass" as a role model, making Saya stronger than Hit-Girl while also putting her into a high school environment. The animation character designer was Kazuchika Kise, who worked on "Blood: The Last Vampire". Yasuomi Umetsu directed and worked on the storyboard for the game's opening along with Kise. A key part of the opening was a layer of blood peeling away from Saya's naked form. While compared by many to the opening of "Ghost in the Shell", Umetsu said that it represented Saya's personal evolution during the course of the show.


title: Blood-C

text: The Elder Bairns were designed by Tomohiro Shinoda. They were initially conceived by Ohkawa as Japanese versions of the Great Old Ones, figures from the Cthulhu Mythos created by H. P. Lovecraft, but this was changed. While some elements remained from the initial concept, the final Elder Bairns' physical forms as faced by Saya were inspired by yokai from Japanese folklore at Mizushima's insistence—this design choice was decided upon after storyboarding finished for the fight against the first episode's Elder Bairn, which was modeled after a Jizo statue. This initial concept was expanded upon by Mizushima, Ohkawa and Fujisaku. The disguised form of the Elder Bairn from the fifth episode was based on train carriages from the Kamikōchi Line in Nagano Prefecture that Mizushima had enjoyed traveling on as a boy. The Elder Bairn from the ninth episode was intended for the second episode, but the staff felt it was too strong to appear so early, so it was shifted to a later episode. All the Elder Bairns were designed to give the impression of a "vivid, flesh-and-blood texture".


title: Blood-C

text: "Blood-C" was first announced in March 2011, with its core staff and its approximate air date in July. The series began broadcasting on July 7, 2011. While scheduled for June 7, its late night slot meant that the first episode's actual broadcast was on July 8. In celebration of the anime's release, an autographed copy of the first episode's script was offered in a competition through the anime's official website. A special web radio series featuring actors from the show also began broadcast in July alongside the series. Dubbed ""Blood-R"", it ran for eleven episodes. It first began broadcasting on MBS TV on July 7 and Tokyo Broadcasting System Television on July 8. Several episodes were repeated during the original broadcast in a three-day successive broadcast in August. Its twelve-episode run ended on September 30, 2011. During the original broadcast, scenes were Saya's friends or other humans characters were killed by the Elder Bairns—the process of which invariably involved extensive blood and gore—were censored with areas of light and darkness. The deaths of Elder Bairns and mild erotic elements during a bathing scene with Saya were left uncensored.


title: Blood-C

text: During its original run, it was broadcast simultaneously in North America, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa through the Western branch of Niconico. In addition to this, the series broadcast on Chubu-Nippon Broadcasting from July 13, and Kumamoto Asahi Broadcasting RRK station from July 31. "Blood-C" would later debut on Wowow in 2013: Episodes 1 to 10 were broadcast back to back on September 22, while the final two episodes broadcast on September 29. In 2015, Niconico's Japanese channel ran a marathon broadcast of all twelve episodes starting from June 28. "Blood-C" was one of three anime cited—alongside "Highschool of the Dead" and "Terror in Resonance"—in a warning given by the Chinese Ministry of Culture to video streaming sites due to the series high violence. "Blood-C" was later put on a blacklist by the Ministry of Culture alongside 37 other anime and manga series in 2015, prohibiting its physical and online distribution in mainland China.


title: Blood-C

text: The series' Blu-ray and DVD releases were handled in Japan by Aniplex. The series released in six volumes between September 28, 2011, and February 22, 2012. The series' English dub and North American licensing was handled by Funimation. A box set containing the whole series released for Blu-ray and DVD on January 22, 2013. In Australia, the series was licensed by Madman Entertainment, releasing as a box set for DVD and Blu-ray on April 17, 2013. In Europe, the series was distributed by Anchor Bay Entertainment through Manga Entertainment. It released as a box set on DVD and Blu-ray on June 10, 2013.


title: Blood-C

text: A theatrical anime film was announced shortly after the anime series, acting as a conclusion to the story of "Blood-C". Titled "", it released in Japanese theaters on June 2, 2012.


title: Blood-C

text: A live-action prequel film titled "Asura Girl: Blood-C Another Story", was announced in January 2017. The film was directed by Shutaro Oku and written by Junichi Fujisaku. Kentarō Nakao is the music composer, while Sennosuke Okumura produced the film. It was released in Japanese theaters on August 26, 2017. The movie is set on a village near Tokyo in a Pre-World War II era, where bloody conflict between the villagers and Japan's Special Higher Police forces erupts. The film focuses on Ran, who was introduced in "The Last Mind" stage play.


title: Blood-C

text: A second live-action movie, "Blood-Club Dolls 1" was announced in February 2018. Oku returned as a director and co-wrote the screenplay with Fujisaku. Kōsuke Nishimoto is the music composer, and Okumura returned as a producer. The film was released in Japanese theaters on October 13, 2018. A third live-action movie and a sequel, "Blood-Club Dolls 2" was announced in December 2019, along with the returning staff and casts. The film was released in Japanese theaters on July 11, 2020. The two films focuses on Soēn, Fumito's henchman that was also introduced in "The Last Mind" stage play, and takes place before the events of "The Last Dark" film.


title: Blood-C

text: A stage play titled "Blood-C: The Last Mind" was produced by Nega Design Works, being staged at the Setagaya Public Theater between July 2 to July 5, 2015. The stage play was directed by Shutaro Oku, who also created stage plays based on "Persona" series, and written by Junichi Fujisaku, who co-wrote the scripts for 12-episode TV anime and the feature film. Set between the events of "Blood-C" and "The Last Dark", it expands upon Fumito's backstory. Several actors from the play reprised their perspective roles for the live-action movies, mainly Kanon Miyahara as Saya Kisaragi, and Keisuke Minami as Fumito Nanahara.


title: Blood-C

text: A novelization of the series was released on October 4, 2011, and novelization of the feature film on June 2, 2012, written by Junichi Fujisaku and published by Kadokawa Shoten.


title: Blood-C

text: A manga adaptation of "Blood-C" was announced alongside the anime. Adapted by manga artist Ranmaru Kotone, it debuted in the June issue of "Monthly Shōnen Ace" on May 26. The manga ended in August 2012, having run for over a year. The manga was released in four volumes between July 26, 2011, and November 21, 2012, by Kadokawa Shoten. The manga covered the events of the 12-episode anime series and "The Last Dark" film. The manga was licensed for the West by Dark Horse Comics. Its four volumes released between March 6, 2013, and December 30, 2015.


title: Blood-C

text: A second spin-off manga series titled "Blood-C: Demonic Moonlight" began serialization in the debut issue of Newtype Ace in September 2011. It was written and illustrated by Ryo Haduki, with Junichi Fujisaku as a story consultant. Set in post-war Japan in 1946, the story of "Demonic Moonlight" acts as a prequel to "Blood-C". The manga focuses on David, who works alongside a mysterious swordless swordsman named Kagekiri on a mysterious cases of humans being killed by Elder Bairns, Fumito's family and Saya's origin. The manga ended in May 2012. It was released in two volumes on December 17, 2011, and May 23, 2012. As with the series' manga adaptation, Dark Horse Comics licensed the manga for Western publication. The two volumes released on May 18 and August 3, 2016.


title: Blood-C

text: During its opening week, the first DVD/Blu-ray volume failed to reach a high position in the charts against many anime and live-action releases, selling only 727 copies according to Oricon. In contrast, at its release in the United Kingdom, the Complete Series release reached #4 in the anime charts. At the Reaper Award awards show, "Blood-C" was awarded the 2013 for "Best Animation".


title: Blood-C

text: Richard Eisenbeis of Kotaku praised the character and Elder Bairn designs, and also enjoyed the questions the anime posed about where "Blood-C" fit in both the overall "Blood" franchise and the works of CLAMP. He was more mixed about the odd juxtaposition of innocent school life with the high violence of Elder Bairn encounters. He was also unsure about the ending, saying it tidied up the series' mysteries but required watching the movie to understand the story. He ended his review by calling "Blood-C" "a beautifully drawn show with excellent action and a legitimately compelling mystery".


title: Blood-C

text: Bradley Meek, writing for THEM Anime, gave the series 3/5 stars. He praised the way the series maintained its horror-based atmosphere in between the action sequences. He greatly enjoyed the horror and action aspects, but felt that the character-driven segments in early episodes threatened to drag down the whole experience due to mundane content and poor characters. Talking about the anime's second half, he said that it drastically altered the pace and content to the point that viewers might be put off with its conscious bending of the rules of handling characters and viewers alike—Meek was ultimately angry at the series' brutal ending, but it also left him eager to see its movie conclusion.


title: Blood-C

text: Anime News Network's Carlo Santos gave the subtitled version a score of "B−" and the dubbed version as score of "C+". He found the darker elements hidden so well in early episodes that it made the series boring to watch, and that the ending would divide opinion due to its drastic alteration of how events in the series played out and its discussion of both horror tropes and the standard elements of the "Blood" franchise. The action scenes came in for regular praise for their choreography and many monster designs, but the school life segments were seen as boring and overly slender character designs. Santos unreservedly praised the music's quality and recurring melodies despite calling the opening and ending themes "typical angst-ridden rock numbers". He called the English dub "understated (but not emotionless)", finding that it reinforced the overall atmosphere and only suffered due to the original writing.


title: Optical illusion

text: Within visual perception, an optical illusion (also called a visual illusion) is an illusion caused by the visual system and characterized by a visual percept that arguably appears to differ from reality. Illusions come in a wide variety; their categorization is difficult because the underlying cause is often not clear but a classification proposed by Richard Gregory is useful as an orientation. According to that, there are three main classes: physical, physiological, and cognitive illusions, and in each class there are four kinds: Ambiguities, distortions, paradoxes, and fictions. A classical example for a physical distortion would be the apparent bending of a stick half immerged in water; an example for a physiological paradox is the motion aftereffect (where, despite movement, position remains unchanged). An example for a physiological fiction is an afterimage. Three typical cognitive distortions are the Ponzo, Poggendorff, and Müller-Lyer illusion. Physical illusions are caused by the physical environment, e.g. by the optical properties of water. Physiological illusions arise in the eye or the visual pathway, e.g. from the effects of excessive stimulation of a specific receptor type. Cognitive visual illusions are the result of unconscious inferences and are perhaps those most widely known.


title: Optical illusion

text: Pathological visual illusions arise from pathological changes in the physiological visual perception mechanisms causing the aforementioned types of illusions; they are discussed e.g. under visual hallucinations.


title: Optical illusion

text: Optical illusions, as well as multi-sensory illusions involving visual perception, can also be used in the monitoring and rehabilitation of some psychological disorders, including phantom limb syndrome and schizophrenia.


title: Optical illusion

text: A familiar phenomenon and example for a physical visual illusion is when mountains appear to be much nearer in clear weather with low humidity (Foehn) than they are. This is because haze is a cue for depth perception, signalling the distance of far-away objects (Aerial perspective).


title: Optical illusion

text: The classical example of a physical illusion is when a stick that is half immersed in water appears bent. This phenomenon was discussed by Ptolemy (ca. 150) and was often a prototypical example for an illusion.


title: Optical illusion

text: Physiological illusions, such as the afterimages following bright lights, or adapting stimuli of excessively longer alternating patterns (contingent perceptual aftereffect), are presumed to be the effects on the eyes or brain of excessive stimulation or interaction with contextual or competing stimuli of a specific type—brightness, color, position, tile, size, movement, etc. The theory is that a stimulus follows its individual dedicated neural path in the early stages of visual processing and that intense or repetitive activity in that or interaction with active adjoining channels causes a physiological imbalance that alters perception.


title: Optical illusion

text: The Hermann grid illusion and Mach bands are two illusions that are often explained using a biological approach. Lateral inhibition, where in receptive fields of the retina receptor signals from light and dark areas compete with one another, has been used to explain why we see bands of increased brightness at the edge of a color difference when viewing Mach bands. Once a receptor is active, it inhibits adjacent receptors. This inhibition creates contrast, highlighting edges. In the Hermann grid illusion, the gray spots that appear at the intersections at peripheral locations are often explained to occur because of lateral inhibition by the surround in larger receptive fields. However, lateral inhibition as an explanation of the Hermann grid illusion has been disproved.


title: Optical illusion

text: More recent empirical approaches to optical illusions have had some success in explaining optical phenomena with which theories based on lateral inhibition have struggled.


title: Optical illusion

text: Cognitive illusions are assumed to arise by interaction with assumptions about the world, leading to "unconscious inferences", an idea first suggested in the 19th century by the German physicist and physician Hermann Helmholtz. Cognitive illusions are commonly divided into ambiguous illusions, distorting illusions, paradox illusions, or fiction illusions.


title: Optical illusion

text: To make sense of the world it is necessary to organize incoming sensations into information which is meaningful. Gestalt psychologists believe one way this is done is by perceiving individual sensory stimuli as a meaningful whole. Gestalt organization can be used to explain many illusions including the rabbit–duck illusion where the image as a whole switches back and forth from being a duck then being a rabbit and why in the figure–ground illusion the figure and ground are reversible.


title: Optical illusion

text: In addition, gestalt theory can be used to explain the illusory contours in the Kanizsa's triangle. A floating white triangle, which does not exist, is seen. The brain has a need to see familiar simple objects and has a tendency to create a "whole" image from individual elements. "Gestalt" means "form" or "shape" in German. However, another explanation of the Kanizsa's triangle is based in evolutionary psychology and the fact that in order to survive it was important to see form and edges. The use of perceptual organization to create meaning out of stimuli is the principle behind other well-known illusions including impossible objects. The brain makes sense of shapes and symbols putting them together like a jigsaw puzzle, formulating that which is not there to that which is believable.


title: Optical illusion

text: The gestalt principles of perception govern the way different objects are grouped. Good form is where the perceptual system tries to fill in the blanks in order to see simple objects rather than complex objects. Continuity is where the perceptual system tries to disambiguate which segments fit together into continuous lines. Proximity is where objects that are close together are associated. Similarity is where objects that are similar are seen as associated. Some of these elements have been successfully incorporated into quantitative models involving optimal estimation or Bayesian inference.


title: Optical illusion

text: The double-anchoring theory, a popular but recent theory of lightness illusions, states that any region belongs to one or more frameworks, created by gestalt grouping principles, and within each frame is independently anchored to both the highest luminance and the surround luminance. A spot's lightness is determined by the average of the values computed in each framework.


title: Optical illusion

text: Illusions can be based on an individual's ability to see in three dimensions even though the image hitting the retina is only two dimensional. The Ponzo illusion is an example of an illusion which uses monocular cues of depth perception to fool the eye. But even with two-dimensional images, the brain exaggerates vertical distances when compared with horizontal distances, as in the vertical-horizontal illusion where the two lines are exactly the same length.


title: Optical illusion

text: In the Ponzo illusion the converging parallel lines tell the brain that the image higher in the visual field is farther away, therefore, the brain perceives the image to be larger, although the two images hitting the retina are the same size. The optical illusion seen in a diorama/false perspective also exploits assumptions based on monocular cues of depth perception. The M.C. Escher painting "Waterfall" exploits rules of depth and proximity and our understanding of the physical world to create an illusion. Like depth perception, motion perception is responsible for a number of sensory illusions. Film animation is based on the illusion that the brain perceives a series of slightly varied images produced in rapid succession as a moving picture. Likewise, when we are moving, as we would be while riding in a vehicle, stable surrounding objects may appear to move. We may also perceive a large object, like an airplane, to move more slowly than smaller objects, like a car, although the larger object is actually moving faster. The phi phenomenon is yet another example of how the brain perceives motion, which is most often created by blinking lights in close succession.


title: Optical illusion

text: The ambiguity of direction of motion due to lack of visual references for depth is shown in the spinning dancer illusion. The spinning dancer appears to be moving clockwise or counterclockwise depending on spontaneous activity in the brain where perception is subjective. Recent studies show on the fMRI that there are spontaneous fluctuations in cortical activity while watching this illusion, particularly the parietal lobe because it is involved in perceiving movement.


title: Optical illusion

text: Perceptual constancies are sources of illusions. Color constancy and brightness constancy are responsible for the fact that a familiar object will appear the same color regardless of the amount of light or color of light reflecting from it. An illusion of color difference or luminosity difference can be created when the luminosity or color of the area surrounding an unfamiliar object is changed. The luminosity of the object will appear brighter against a black field (that reflects less light) than against a white field, even though the object itself did not change in luminosity. Similarly, the eye will compensate for color contrast depending on the color cast of the surrounding area.


title: Optical illusion

text: In addition to the gestalt principles of perception, water-color illusions contribute to the formation of optical illusions. Water-color illusions consist of object-hole effects and coloration. Object-hole effects occur when boundaries are prominent where there is a figure and background with a hole that is 3D volumetric in appearance. Coloration consists of an assimilation of color radiating from a thin-colored edge lining a darker chromatic contour. The water-color illusion describes how the human mind perceives the wholeness of an object such as top-down processing. Thus, contextual factors play into perceiving the brightness of an object.


title: Optical illusion

text: Just as it perceives color and brightness constancies, the brain has the ability to understand familiar objects as having a consistent shape or size. For example, a door is perceived as a rectangle regardless of how the image may change on the retina as the door is opened and closed. Unfamiliar objects, however, do not always follow the rules of shape constancy and may change when the perspective is changed. The "Shepard's table" illusion is an example of an illusion based on distortions in shape constancy.


title: Optical illusion

text: Researcher Mark Changizi of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York has a more imaginative take on optical illusions, saying that they are due to a neural lag which most humans experience while awake. When light hits the retina, about one-tenth of a second goes by before the brain translates the signal into a visual perception of the world. Scientists have known of the lag, yet they have debated how humans compensate, with some proposing that our motor system somehow modifies our movements to offset the delay.


title: Optical illusion

text: Changizi asserts that the human visual system has evolved to compensate for neural delays by generating images of what will occur one-tenth of a second into the future. This foresight enables humans to react to events in the present, enabling humans to perform reflexive acts like catching a fly ball and to maneuver smoothly through a crowd. In an interview with ABC Changizi said, "Illusions occur when our brains attempt to perceive the future, and those perceptions don't match reality." For example, an illusion called the Hering illusion looks like bicycle spokes around a central point, with vertical lines on either side of this central, so-called vanishing point.


title: Optical illusion

text: The illusion tricks us into thinking we are looking at a perspective picture, and thus according to Changizi, switches on our future-seeing abilities. Since we aren't actually moving and the figure is static, we misperceive the straight lines as curved ones.


title: Optical illusion

text: Evolution has seen to it that geometric drawings like this elicit in us premonitions of the near future. The converging lines toward a vanishing point (the spokes) are cues that trick our brains into thinking we are moving forward—as we would in the real world, where the door frame (a pair of vertical lines) seems to bow out as we move through it—and we try to perceive what that world will look like in the next instant.


title: Optical illusion

text: A pathological visual illusion is a distortion of a real external stimulus and are often diffuse and persistent. Pathological visual illusions usually occur throughout the visual field, suggesting global excitability or sensitivity alterations. Alternatively visual hallucination is the perception of an external visual stimulus where none exists. Visual hallucinations are often from focal dysfunction and are usually transient.


title: Optical illusion

text: Types of visual illusions include oscillopsia, halos around objects, illusory palinopsia (visual trailing, light streaking, prolonged indistinct afterimages), akinetopsia, visual snow, micropsia, macropsia, teleopsia, pelopsia, metamorphopsia, dyschromatopsia, intense glare, blue field entoptic phenomenon, and purkinje trees.


title: Optical illusion

text: These symptoms may indicate an underlying disease state and necessitate seeing a medical practitioner. Etiologies associated with pathological visual illusions include multiple types of ocular disease, migraines, hallucinogen persisting perception disorder, head trauma, and prescription drugs. If a medical work-up does not reveal a cause of the pathological visual illusions, the idiopathic visual disturbances could be analogous to the altered excitability state seen in visual aura with no migraine headache. If the visual illusions are diffuse and persistent, they often affect the patient's quality of life. These symptoms are often refractory to treatment and may be caused by any of the aforementioned etiologies, but are often idiopathic. There is no standard treatment for these visual disturbances.


title: Optical illusion

text: The rubber hand illusion (RHI), a multi-sensory illusion involving both visual perception and touch, has been used to study how phantom limb syndrome affects amputees over time. Amputees with the syndrome actually responded to RHI more strongly than controls, an effect that was often consistent for both the sides of the intact and the amputated arm. However, in some studies, amputees actually had stronger responses to RHI on their intact arm, and more recent amputees responded to the illusion better than amputees who had been missing an arm for years or more. Researchers believe this is a sign that the body schema, or an individual's sense of their own body and its parts, progressively adapts to the post-amputation state. Essentially, the amputees were learning to no longer respond to sensations near what had once been their arm. As a result, many have suggested the use of RHI as a tool for monitoring an amputee's progress in reducing their phantom limb sensations and adjusting to the new state of their body.


title: Optical illusion

text: Other research used RHI in the rehabilitation of amputees with prosthetic limbs. After prolonged exposure to RHI, the amputees gradually stopped feeling a dissociation between the prosthetic (which resembled the rubber hand) and the rest of their body. This was thought to be because they adjusted to responding to and moving a limb that did not feel as connected to the rest of their body or senses.


title: Optical illusion

text: RHI may also be used to diagnose certain disorders related to impaired proprioception or impaired sense of touch in non-amputees.


title: Optical illusion

text: Schizophrenia, a mental disorder often marked by hallucinations, also decreases a person's ability to perceive high-order optical illusions. This is because schizophrenia impairs one's capacity to perform top-down processing and a higher-level integration of visual information beyond the primary visual cortex, V1. Understanding how this specifically occurs in the brain may help in understanding how visual distortions, beyond imaginary hallucinations, affect schizophrenic patients. Additionally, evaluating the differences between how schizophrenic patients and unaffected individuals see illusions may enable researchers to better identify where specific illusions are processed in the visual streams.


title: Optical illusion

text: One study on schizophrenic patients found that they were extremely unlikely to be fooled by a three dimensional optical illusion, the hollow face illusion, unlike neurotypical volunteers. Based on fMRI data, researchers concluded that this resulted from a disconnect between their systems for bottom-up processing of visual cues and top-down interpretations of those cues in the parietal cortex. In another study on the motion-induced blindness (MIB) illusion (pictured right), schizophrenic patients continued to perceive stationary visual targets even when observing distracting motion stimuli, unlike neurotypical controls, who experienced motion induced blindness. The schizophrenic test subjects demonstrated impaired cognitive organization, meaning they were less able to coordinate their processing of motion cues and stationary image cues.


title: Optical illusion

text: There are a variety of different types of optical illusions. Many are included in the following list.


title: Optical illusion

text: Artists who have worked with optical illusions include M. C. Escher, Bridget Riley, Salvador Dalí, Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Patrick Bokanowski, Marcel Duchamp, Jasper Johns, Oscar Reutersvärd, Victor Vasarely and Charles Allan Gilbert. Contemporary artists who have experimented with illusions include Jonty Hurwitz, Sandro del Prete, Octavio Ocampo, Dick Termes, Shigeo Fukuda, Patrick Hughes, István Orosz, Rob Gonsalves, Gianni A. Sarcone, Ben Heine and Akiyoshi Kitaoka. Optical illusion is also used in film by the technique of forced perspective.


title: Optical illusion

text: Op art is a style of art that uses optical illusions to create an impression of movement, or hidden images and patterns. "Trompe-l'œil"


title: Optical illusion

text: uses realistic imagery to create the optical illusion that depicted objects exist in three dimensions.


title: Optical illusion

text: Tourists attractions employing large-scale illusory art allowing visitors to photograph themselves in fantastic scenes have opened in several Asian countries, such as the Trickeye Museum and Hong Kong 3D Museum.


title: Optical illusion

text: The hypothesis claims that visual illusions occur because the neural circuitry in our visual system evolves, by neural learning, to a system that makes very efficient interpretations of usual 3D scenes based in the emergence of simplified models in our brain that speed up the interpretation process but give rise to optical illusions in unusual situations. In this sense, the cognitive processes hypothesis can be considered a framework for an understanding of optical illusions as the signature of the empirical statistical way vision has evolved to solve the inverse problem.


title: Optical illusion

text: Research indicates that 3D vision capabilities emerge and are learned jointly with the planning of movements. That is, as depth cues are better perceived, individuals can develop more efficient patterns of movement and interaction within the 3D environment around them. After a long process of learning, an internal representation of the world emerges that is well-adjusted to the perceived data coming from closer objects. The representation of distant objects near the horizon is less "adequate". In fact, it is not only the Moon that seems larger when we perceive it near the horizon. In a photo of a distant scene, all distant objects are perceived as smaller than when we observe them directly using our vision.


title: Brendan Eich

text: Brendan Eich (; born July 4, 1961) is an American computer programmer and technology executive. He created the JavaScript programming language and co-founded the Mozilla project, the Mozilla Foundation, and the Mozilla Corporation. He served as the Mozilla Corporation's chief technical officer before he was appointed chief executive officer, but resigned shortly after his appointment due to controversy over his opposition to same-sex marriage. He subsequently became the CEO of Brave Software.


title: Brendan Eich

text: Eich grew up in Pittsburgh; Gaithersburg, Maryland; and Palo Alto, and he attended Ellwood P. Cubberley High School, graduating in the class of 1979. He received his bachelor's degree in mathematics and computer science at Santa Clara University, and he received his master's degree in 1985 from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. Eich is Roman Catholic.


title: Brendan Eich

text: He began his career at Silicon Graphics, working for seven years on operating system and network code. He then worked for three years at MicroUnity Systems Engineering writing microkernel and DSP code.


title: Brendan Eich

text: Eich started work at Netscape Communications Corporation in April 1995. Eich originally joined intending to put Scheme "in the browser", but his Netscape superiors insisted that the language's syntax resemble that of Java. As a result, Eich devised a language that had much of the functionality of Scheme, the object-orientation of Self, and the syntax of Java. He completed the first version in ten days in order to accommodate the Navigator 2.0 Beta release schedule, and was called Mocha, but renamed LiveScript in September 1995 and finally in a joint announcement with Sun Microsystems it was named JavaScript in December. Simultaneously, he designed the first SpiderMonkey engine for the Netscape Navigator browser at Netscape Communications. When Mozilla inherited the Netscape base code in 1998, it included this engine, which was written in the C programming language. It was then changed in JavaScript 1.5 to comply with the ECMA-262 standard. Eich continued to oversee the development of SpiderMonkey, the specific implementation of JavaScript in Navigator.


title: Brendan Eich

text: In early 1998, Eich co-founded the free and open source software project Mozilla with Jamie Zawinski and others, creating the mozilla.org website, which was meant to manage open-source contributions to the Netscape source code. He served as Mozilla's chief architect. AOL bought Netscape in 1999. After AOL shut down the Netscape browser unit in July 2003, Eich helped spin out the Mozilla Foundation.


title: Brendan Eich

text: In August 2005, after serving as a lead technologist and as a member of the board of directors of the Mozilla Foundation, Eich became chief technical officer (CTO) of the newly founded Mozilla Corporation, meant to be the Mozilla Foundation's for-profit arm. Eich continued to "own" the Mozilla SpiderMonkey module, its JavaScript engine, until he passed on the ownership of it to Dave Mandolin in 2011.


title: Brendan Eich

text: On March 24, 2014, Mozilla made the decision to appoint Eich as CEO of Mozilla Corporation. The appointment triggered widespread criticism due to Eich's past political donations – specifically, a 2008 donation of $1,000 to California Proposition 8, which called for the banning of same-sex marriage in California, and donations in the amount of $2,100 to Proposition 8 supporter Tom McClintock between 2008 and 2010. "The Wall Street Journal" initially reported that, in protest against his coming appointment, half of Mozilla's board (Gary Kovacs, John Lilly, and Ellen Siminoff) stepped down, leaving Mitchell Baker, Reid Hoffman, and Katharina Borchert. CNET later reported that of the three board members who had left, only Lilly left due to Eich's appointment. Lilly told "The New York Times", "I left rather than appoint him", and declined to elaborate further.


title: Brendan Eich

text: On March 26, 2014, Eich expressed "sorrow for causing pain" and pledged to "work with LGBT communities and allies" at Mozilla. Some of the activists created an online campaign against Eich, with online dating site OkCupid automatically displaying a message to Firefox users with information about Eich's donation, and suggesting that users switch to a different browser (although giving them a link to continue with Firefox). CREDO Mobile collected more than 50,000 signatures demanding that Eich resign.


title: Brendan Eich

text: After 11 days as CEO, Eich resigned on April 3, 2014, and left Mozilla over his opposition to same-sex marriage. In his personal blog, he posted, "under the present circumstances, I cannot be an effective leader". Mozilla made a press release saying that board members tried to get Eich to stay in the company in a different role, but that he had chosen to sever ties for the time being.


title: Brendan Eich

text: Eich is the CEO of Brave Software, an Internet browser platform company that raised $2.5 million in early funding from angel investors. In January 2016, the company released developer versions of its open-source, Chromium-based and privacy-focused Brave web browser, which blocks ads and trackers, and features built-in Tor-connected tabs.


title: Brendan Eich

text: At Brave Software, Eich co-created the Basic Attention Token (BAT), a cryptocurrency designed for use in the Brave browser. BAT launched its ICO on May 31, 2017, and raised $35 million.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: The Republic of Serbian Krajina or Serb Republic of Krajina ( / or РСК / RSK, ), known as the Serbian Krajina ( / ) or simply Krajina, was a self-proclaimed Serb proto-state, a territory within the newly independent Republic of Croatia (formerly part of Socialist Yugoslavia), which it defied, and which was active during the Croatian War of Independence (1991–95). It was not recognized internationally. The name "Krajina" ("Frontier") was adopted from the historical Military Frontier of the Habsburg monarchy (Austria-Hungary), which had a substantial Serb population and existed up to the late 19th century. The RSK government waged a war for ethnic Serb independence from Croatia and unification with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Republika Srpska (in Bosnia and Herzegovina).


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: The government of Krajina had "de facto" control over central parts of the territory while control of the outskirts changed with the successes and failures of its military activities. The territory was legally protected by the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR).


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: Its main portion was overrun by Croatian forces in 1995 and the Republic of Serbian Krajina was ultimately disbanded as a result; a rump remained in eastern Slavonia under UNTAES administration until its peaceful reintegration into Croatia in 1998 under the Erdut Agreement.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: The name "Krajina" (meaning "frontier") stemmed from the Military Frontier which Habsburg monarchy carved out of parts of the crown lands of Croatia and Slavonia between 1553 and 1578 with a view to defending itself against the expansion of the Ottoman Empire. The population was Mainly Croats, Serbs and Vlachs who immigrated from nearby parts of the Ottoman Empire (Ottoman Bosnia and Serbia) into the region and helped bolster and replenish the population as well as the garrisoned troops in the fight against the Ottomans. The Austrians controlled the Frontier from military headquarters in Vienna and did not make it a crown land, though it had some special rights in order to encourage settlement in an otherwise deserted, war-ravaged territory. The abolition of the military rule took place between 1869 and 1871. In order to attract Serbs to become part of Croatia, on 11 May 1867, the Sabor solemnly declared that "the Triune Kingdom recognizes the Serbs living in it as a nation identical and equal with the Croatian nation". Subsequently, the Military Frontier was incorporated into Habsburg Croatia on 1 August 1881 when the Ban of Croatia Ladislav Pejačević took over from the Zagreb General Command.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: Following the end of World War I in 1918, the regions formerly forming part of the Military Frontier came under the control of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, where they formed part of the Sava Banovina, along with most of the old Croatia-Slavonia. Between the two World Wars, the Serbs of the Croatian and Slavonian Krajina, as well as those of the Bosnian Krajina and of other regions west of Serbia, organized a notable political party, the Independent Democratic Party under Svetozar Pribićević. In the new state there existed much tension between the Croats and Serbs over differing political visions, with the campaign for Croatian autonomy culminating in the assassination of a Croatian leader, Stjepan Radić, in the parliament, and repression by the Serb-dominated security structures.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: Between 1939 and 1941, in an attempt to resolve the Croat-Serb political and social antagonism in first Yugoslavia, the Kingdom established an autonomous Banovina of Croatia incorporating (amongst other territories) much of the former Military Frontier as well as parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1941, the Axis powers invaded Yugoslavia and in the aftermath the Independent State of Croatia (which included the whole of today's Bosnia and Herzegovina and parts of Serbia (Eastern Syrmia) as well) was declared. The Germans installed the Ustaše (who had allegedly plotted the assassination of the Serbian King Alexander I of Yugoslavia in 1934) as rulers of the new country; the Ustaše authorities promptly pursued a genocidal policy of persecution of Serbs, Jews and Croats (from opposition groups), leading to the deaths of over 300,000. During this period, individual Croats coalesced around the ruling authorities or around the communist anti-fascist Partisans. Serbs from around the Knin area tended to join the Chetniks, whilst Serbs from the Banovina and Slavonia regions tended to join the Partisans. Various Chetnik groups also committed atrocities against Croats across many areas of Lika and parts of northern Dalmatia.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: At the end of World War II in 1945, the communist-dominated Partisans prevailed and the Krajina region became part of the People's Republic of Croatia until 7 April 1963, when the federal republic changed its name to the Socialist Republic of Croatia. Josip Broz Tito suppressed the autonomous political organizations of the region (along with other movements such as the Croatian Spring); however, the Yugoslav constitutions of 1965 and 1974 did give substantial rights to national minorities - including to the Serbs in SR Croatia.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: The Serbian "Krajina" entity to emerge upon Croatia's declaration of independence in 1991 would include three kinds of territories:


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: Large sections of the historical Military Frontier lay outside of the Republic of Serbian Krajina and contained a largely Croat population - these including much of Lika, the area centered around the city of Bjelovar, central and south-eastern Slavonia.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: The Serb-populated regions in Croatia were of central concern to the Serbian nationalist movement of the late 1980s, led by Slobodan Milošević. In September 1986 the Serbian Academy's memorandum on the status of Serbia and Serbs was partially leaked by a Serbian newspaper. It listed a series of grievances against the Yugoslav federation, claiming that the situation in Kosovo was 'genocide', and complained about alleged discrimination of Serbs at the hands of the Croatian authorities. Among the claims that it makes is that 'except for the time under the Independent State of Croatia, the Serbs in Croatia have never been as jeopardized as they are today'. Tension was further fuelled by the overthrow of Vojvodina and Montenegro's government by Milošević's loyalists, and the abrogation of Kosovo's and Vojvodina's autonomy in 1989, which gave Milošević 4 out of 8 votes on the Yugoslav Federal Presidency, thus gaining the power to block every decision made by the Presidency. Furthermore, a series of Serb nationalist rallies were held in Croatia during 1989, under pressure from Serbia. On 8 July 1989, a large nationalist rally was held in Knin, during which banners threatening JNA intervention in Croatia, as well as Chetnik iconography was displayed, stunning the Croatian public. The Croatian pro-independence party victory in 1990 made matters more tense, especially since the country's Serb minority was supported by Milošević. At the time, Serbs comprised about 12.2% (581,663 people) of Croatia's population (1991 census).


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: Serbs became increasingly opposed to the policies of Franjo Tuđman, elected president of Croatia in April 1990, due to his overt desire for the creation of an independent Croatia. On 30 May 1990, the Serb Democratic Party (SDS) of Jovan Rašković broke all ties to the Croatian parliament. The following June in Knin, the SDS-led Serbs proclaimed the creation of the Association of Municipalities of Northern Dalmatia and Lika. In August 1990, the Serbs began what became known as the Log Revolution, where barricades of logs were placed across roads throughout the South as an expression of their secession from Croatia. This effectively cut Croatia in two, separating the coastal region of Dalmatia from the rest of the country. The Constitution of Croatia was passed in December 1990, which reduced the status of Serbs from "constituent" to a "national minority" in the same category as other groups such as Italians and Hungarians. Some would later justify their claim to an independent Serb state by arguing that the new constitution contradicted the 1974 Yugoslav Constitution, because, in their view, Croatia was still legally governed by the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, although this ignores the fact that Serbia's constitution, promulgated three months before Croatia's, also contained several provisions violating the 1974 Federal Constitution.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: Serbs in Croatia had established a Serbian National Council in July 1990 to coordinate opposition to Croatian independence. Their position was that if Croatia could secede from Yugoslavia, then the Serbs could secede from Croatia. Milan Babić, a dentist by profession from the southern town of Knin, was elected president. At his ICTY trial in 2004, he claimed that "during the events [of 1990–1992], and in particular at the beginning of his political career, he was strongly influenced and misled by Serbian propaganda, which repeatedly referred to the imminent threat of a Croatian genocide perpetrated on the Serbs in Croatia, thus creating an atmosphere of hatred and fear of Croats." The rebel Croatian Serbs established a number of paramilitary militia units under the leadership of Milan Martić, the police chief in Knin.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: In August 1990, a referendum was held in Krajina on the question of Serb "sovereignty and autonomy" in Croatia. The resolution was confined exclusively to Serbs so it passed by an improbable majority of 99.7%. As expected, it was declared illegal and invalid by the Croatian government, who stated that Serbs had no constitutional right to break away from Croatian legal territory - as well as no right to limit the franchise to one ethnic group.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: Babić's administration announced the creation of a Serbian Autonomous Oblast of Krajina (or "SAO Krajina") on 21 December 1990. On 16 March 1991, another referendum was held which asked: "Are you in favor of the SAO Krajina joining the Republic of Serbia and staying in Yugoslavia with Serbia, Montenegro and others who wish to preserve Yugoslavia?". With 99.8% voting in favor, the referendum was approved and the Krajina assembly declared that "the territory of the SAO Krajina is a constitutive part of the unified state territory of the Republic of Serbia". On 1 April 1991, it declared that it would secede from Croatia. Other Serb-dominated communities in eastern Croatia announced that they would also join SAO Krajina and ceased paying taxes to the Zagreb government, and began implementing its own currency system, army regiments, and postal service.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: Croatia held a referendum on independence on 19 May 1991, in which the electorate—minus many Serbs, who chose to boycott it—voted overwhelmingly for independence with the option of confederate union with other Yugoslav states - with 83 percent turnout, voters approved the referendum by 93 percent. On 25 June 1991, Croatia and Slovenia both declared their independence from Yugoslavia. As the JNA attempted unsuccessfully to suppress Slovenia's independence in the short Slovenian War, clashes between revolting Croatian Serbs and Croatian security forces broke out almost immediately, leaving dozens dead on both sides. Serbs were supported by remnants of the JNA (whose members were now only from Serbia and Montenegro), which provided them weapons. Many Croatians fled their homes in fear or were forced out by the rebel Serbs. The European Union and United Nations unsuccessfully attempted to broker ceasefires and peace settlements.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: Around August 1991, the leaders of Serbian Krajina and Serbia allegedly agreed to embark on a campaign which the ICTY prosecutors described as a "joint criminal enterprise" whose purpose "was the forcible removal of the majority of the Croat and other non-Serb population from approximately one-third of the territory of the Republic of Croatia, an area he planned to become part of a new Serb-dominated state." According to testimony given by Milan Babić in his subsequent war crimes trial, during the summer of 1991, the Serbian secret police (under Milošević's command) set up "a parallel structure of state security and the police of Krajina and units commanded by the state security of Serbia". Paramilitary groups such as the Wolves of Vučjak and White Eagles, funded by the Serbian secret police, were also a key component of this structure.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: A wider-scale war was launched in August 1991. Over the following months, a large area of territory, amounting to a third of Croatia, was controlled by the rebel Serbs. The Croatian population suffered heavily, fleeing or evicted with numerous killings, leading to ethnic cleansing. The bulk of the fighting occurred between August and December 1991 when approximately 80,000 Croats were expelled (and some were killed). Many more died and or were displaced in fighting in eastern Slavonia (this territory along the Croatian/Serbian border was not part of the Krajina, and it was the JNA that was the principal actor in that part of the conflict). The total number of exiled Croats and other non-Serbs range from 170,000 (ICTY) up to a quarter of a million people (Human Rights Watch).


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: In the latter half of 1991, Croatia was beginning to form an army and their main defenders, the local police, were overpowered by the JNA military who supported rebelled Croatian Serbs. The RSK was located entirely inland, but they soon started advancing deeper into Croatian territory. Among other places, they shelled the Croatian coastal town of Zadar killing over 80 people in nearby areas and damaging the Maslenica Bridge that connected northern and southern Croatia, in the Operation Coast-91. They also tried to overtake Šibenik, but the defenders successfully repelled the attack by JNA, in the Battle of Šibenik. The main city theatre was also bombed by JNA forces. The city of Vukovar, however, was completely devastated by JNA attacks. The city of Vukovar that warded off JNA attacks for months eventually fell, ending the Battle of Vukovar. 2,000 defenders of Vukovar and civilians were killed, 800 went missing and 22,000 were forced into exile. The wounded were taken from Vukovar Hospital to Ovčara near Vukovar where they were executed.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: On 19 December 1991, the SAO Krajina proclaimed itself the Republic of Serbian Krajina. The Constitution of Serbian Krajina came into effect the same day. On 26 February 1992, the SAO Western Slavonia and SAO Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia were added to the RSK, which initially had only encompassed the territories within the SAO Krajina. The Army of the Republic of Serb Krajina (Srpska Vojska Krajine, SVK) was officially formed on 19 March 1992. The RSK occupied an area of some 17,028 km at its greatest extent.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: Under the Vance plan, signed in November 1991, Presidents Tuđman and Milošević agreed to a United Nations peace plan put forward by Cyrus Vance.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: A final ceasefire agreement, the Sarajevo Agreement, was signed by representatives of the two sides in January 1992, paving the way for the implementation of the Vance plan. Four United Nations Protected Areas (UNPAs) were established in Croatian territory which was claimed by RSK, and the plan called for the withdrawal of the JNA from Croatia and for the return of refugees to their homes in the UNPAs.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: The JNA officially withdrew from Croatia in May 1992 but much of its weaponry and many of its personnel remained in the Serb-held areas and were turned over to the RSK's security forces. Refugees were not allowed to return to their homes and many of the remaining Croats and other nationalities left in the RSK were expelled or killed in the following months. On 21 February 1992, the creation of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) was authorised by the UN Security Council for an initial period of a year, to provide security to the UNPAs.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: The agreement effectively froze the front lines for the next three years. Croatia and the RSK had effectively fought each other to a standstill. The Republic of Serbian Krajina was not recognized "de jure" by any other country or international organization. Nevertheless, it gained support from Serbia's allies, like Russia.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: UNPROFOR was deployed throughout the region to maintain the ceasefire, although in practice its light armament and restricted rules of engagement meant that it was little more than an observer force. It proved wholly unable to ensure that refugees returned to the RSK. Indeed, the rebel Croatian Serb authorities continued to make efforts to ensure that they could "never" return, destroying villages and cultural and religious monuments to erase the previous existence of the Croatian inhabitants of the Krajina. Milan Babić later testified that this policy was driven from Belgrade through the Serbian secret police—and ultimately Milošević—who he claimed was in control of all the administrative institutions and armed forces in the Krajina. This would certainly explain why the Yugoslav National Army took the side of the rebelled Croatian Serbs in spite of its claims to be acting as a "peacekeeping" force. Milošević denied this, claiming that Babić had made it up "out of fear".


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: The Army of Serbian Krajina frequently attacked neighboring Bihać enclave (then in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina) with heavy artillery.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: With the creation of new Croatian counties on 30 December 1992, the Croatian government also set aside two autonomous regions ("kotar") for ethnic Serbs in the areas of Krajina:


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: However, Serbs considered this too late, as it was not the amount of autonomy they wanted, and by now they had declared "de facto" independence.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: The districts never actually functioned since they were located within the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina. The existence of the Autonomous District of Glina was also provided in the draft of the Z-4 plan, that was rejected.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: After Operation Storm, the application of the law which allowed autonomy would be temporarily suspended. In 2000 this part of the law was formally repealed.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: The partial implementation of the Vance Plan drove a wedge between the governments of the RSK and Serbia, the RSK's principal backer and supplier of fuel, arms, and money. Milan Babić strongly opposed the Vance Plan but was overruled by the RSK's assembly.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: On 26 February 1992, Babić was deposed and replaced as President of the RSK by Goran Hadžić, a Milošević loyalist. Babić remained involved in RSK politics but as a considerably weaker figure.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: The position of the RSK eroded steadily over the following three years. On the surface, the RSK had all the trappings of a state: army, parliament, president, government and ministries, currency and stamps. However, its economy was wholly dependent on support from the rump Yugoslavia, which had the effect of importing that country's hyperinflation.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: The economic situation soon became disastrous. By 1994, only 36,000 of the RSK's 430,000 citizens were employed. The war had severed the RSK's trade links with the rest of Croatia, leaving its few industries idle. With few natural resources of its own, it had to import most of the goods and fuel it required. Agriculture was devastated, and operated at little more than a subsistence level. Professionals went to Serbia or elsewhere to escape the republic's economic hardships. To make matters worse, the RSK's government was grossly corrupt and the region became a haven for black marketeering and other criminal activity. It was clear by the mid-1990s that without a peace deal or support from Yugoslavia the RSK was not economically viable. This was especially evident in Belgrade, where the RSK had become an unwanted economic and political burden for Milošević. Much to his frustration, the rebel Croatian Serbs rebuffed his government's demands to settle the conflict.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: In July 1992 the RSK issued its own currency, the Krajina dinar (HRKR), in parallel with the Yugoslav dinar. This was followed by the "October dinar" (HRKO), first issued on 1 October 1993 and equal to 1,000,000 Reformed Dinar, and the "1994 dinar", first issued on 1 January 1994, and equal to 1,000,000,000 October dinar.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: The RSK's weakness also adversely affected its armed forces, the Vojska Srpske Krajine (VSK). Since the 1992 ceasefire agreement, Croatia had spent heavily on importing weapons and training its armed forces with assistance from American contractors. In contrast, the VSK had grown steadily weaker, with its soldiers poorly motivated, trained and equipped. There were only about 55,000 of them to cover a front of some 600 km in Croatia plus 100 km along the border with the Bihać pocket in Bosnia. With 16,000 stationed in eastern Slavonia, only about 39,000 were left to defend the main part of the RSK. Overall, only 30,000 were capable of full mobilization, yet they faced a far stronger Croatian army. Also, political divisions between Hadžić and Babić occasionally led to physical and sometimes even armed confrontations between their supporters; Babić himself was assaulted and beaten in an incident in Benkovac.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: In January 1993 the revitalized Croatian army attacked the Serbian positions around Maslenica in southern Croatia which curtailed their access to the sea via Novigrad.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: In a second offensive in September 1993 the Croatian army overran the Medak pocket in southern Krajina in a push to regain Serb-held Croatian territory. This action was halted by international diplomacy but although the rebel Croatian Serbs brought reinforcements forward fairly quickly, the strength of the Croatian forces proved superior. Hadžić sent an urgent request to Belgrade for reinforcements, arms, and equipment. In response, around 4,000 paramilitaries under the command of Vojislav Šešelj (the White Eagles) and "Arkan" (the Serb Volunteer Guard) arrived to bolster the VSK.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: Following the rejection by both sides of the Z-4 plan for reintegration, the RSK's end came in 1995, when Croatian forces gained control of SAO Western Slavonia in Operation Flash (May) followed by the biggest part of occupied Croatia in Operation Storm (August). The Krajina Serb Supreme Defence Council met under president Milan Martić to discuss the situation. A decision was reached at 16:45 to "start evacuating the population unfit for military service from the municipalities of Knin, Benkovac, Obrovac, Drniš and Gračac." The RSK was disbanded and most of its Serb population (from 150,000 to 200,000 people) fled. Only 5,000 to 6,000 people remained, mostly the elderly. Croatian historian Ivo Goldstein wrote, "The reasons for the Serb exodus are complex. Some had to leave because the Serb army had forced them to, while others feared the revenge of the Croatian army or of their former Croat neighbors, whom they had driven away and whose homes they had mostly looted (and it was later shown that this fear was far from groundless)".


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: Most of the refugees fled to today's Serbia, Bosnia, and eastern Slavonia. Some of those who refused to leave were murdered, tortured and forcibly expelled by the Croatian Army and police.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: Between 2001 and 2012, the ICTY had prosecuted Croatian generals Ante Gotovina, Mladen Markač and Ivan Čermak in the Trial of Gotovina et al for their involvement in crimes committed during and in the aftermath of Operation Storm. The indictment and the subsequent trial on charges of crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war described several killings, widespread arson and looting committed by Croatian soldiers. In April 2011, Gotovina and Markač were convicted and given prison sentences, while Čermak was acquitted. Gotovina and Markač appealed the verdict and in November 2012 the Appeals Chamber of the ICTY overturned their convictions, acquitting them.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: The parts of the former RSK in eastern Croatia (along with the Danube) remained in place, in what was previously the SAO Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: In 1995, Milan Milanović, formerly a Republic of Serbian Krajina official, signed the Erdut Agreement as a representative of the Serbian side. This agreement, co-signed by the representative of the Croatian Government, was sponsored by the United Nations, and it set up a transitional period during which the United Nations Transitional Authority for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) peacekeeping mission would oversee a peaceful reintegration of this territory into Croatia, starting on 15 January 1996. In 1998, the UNTAES mission was complete and the territory was formally returned to Croatia. Based on the Erdut Agreement, the Joint Council of Municipalities was established in the region in 1997.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: After the peaceful reintegration, two Croatian islands on the Danube, the Island of Šarengrad and the Island of Vukovar, remained under Serbian military control. In 2004, the Serbian military was withdrawn from the islands and replaced with Serbian police. The islands remain an open question as the Croatian side insists on applying Badinter Arbitration Committee decisions.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: In 1995 a Croatian court sentenced former RSK president Goran Hadžić "in absentia" to 20 years in prison for rocket attacks on Šibenik and Vodice. In 1999 he was sentenced to an additional 20 years for war crimes in Tenja, near Osijek, and in 2002 Croatia's state attorney brought another indictment against him for the murder of almost 1,300 Croats in Vukovar, Osijek, Vinkovci, Županja and elsewhere. On 4 June 2004, the ICTY indicted him on 14 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. In 2011 he was arrested and extradited to the Hague, where his initial trial hearing was held on 25 July the same year.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: After the war, a number of towns and municipalities that had comprised the RSK were designated Areas of Special State Concern.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: According to the indictment of prosecutor Carla Del Ponte against Slobodan Milošević at the ICTY, the Croat and non-Serb population from the 1991 census was approximately as follows:


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: According to data set forth at the meeting of the Government of the RSK in July 1992, its ethnic composition was 88% Serbs, 7% Croats, 5% others. As of November 1993, less than 400 ethnic Croats still resided in UNPA Sector South, and between 1,500 and 2,000 remained in UNPA Sector North.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: During its existence, this entity did not achieve international recognition. On 29 November 1991, the Badinter commission concluded that Yugoslavia was "in dissolution" and that the republics – including Croatia – should be recognized as independent states when they asked so. They also assigned these republics territorial integrity. For most of the world, this was a reason to recognize Croatia. However, Serbia did not accept the conclusions of the commission in that period and recognized Croatia only after Croatian military actions (Oluja and Bljesak) and the Dayton agreement.


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: On 20 November 1991 Lord Carrington asked Badinter commission: "Does the Serbian population in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as one of the constituent peoples of Yugoslavia, have the right to self-determination?" The commission concluded on 11 January 1992 "that the Serbian population in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia is entitled to all the rights concerned to minorities and ethnic groups[...]" and "that the Republics must afford the members of those minorities and ethnic groups all the human rights and fundamental freedoms recognized in international law, including, where appropriate, the right to choose their nationality".


title: Republic of Serbian Krajina

text: Milan Babić, former President of Serbian Krajina, testified to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) that Krajina was provided with weapons by Slobodan Milošević's government in Serbia, and that Krajina was economically and financially dependent upon Serbia. Babić testified that Milošević held "de facto" control over both the Army of Serbian Krajina and the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) during its actions in Krajina via an alternate chain of command through the Serbian police.


title: Leshy

text: The Leshy (also Leshi; ; literally, "[he] from the forest", ) is a tutelary deity of the forests in pagan Slavic mythology. As the spirit rules over the forest and hunting, he may be related to the Slavic god Porewit.


title: Leshy

text: There is also a deity, named "Svyatibor" ("Svyatobor", "Svyatibog"), who is mentioned in the beliefs of the Eastern and Western Slavs as the god of forests and the lord of the leshies. His functions were identical to those of the god Veles.


title: Leshy

text: The Leshy is masculine and humanoid in shape, is able to assume any likeness and can change in size and height. In some accounts, Leshy is described as having a wife ("Leshachikha", "Leszachka", "Lesovikha" and also, sometimes, the "Kikimora" of the swamp) and children ("leshonki", "leszonky"). He is known by some to have a propensity to lead travelers astray and abduct children (which he shares with Chort, the "Black One"), which would lead some to believe he is an evil entity. He is, however, also known to have a more neutral disposition towards humans, dependent on the attitudes and behaviours of an individual person, or local population, towards the forest. Leshy could take children who were cursed by their relatives (in particular, parents) away to the forest people. Some would therefore describe him as more of a temperamental being, like a fairy.


title: Centella asiatica

text: Centella asiatica, commonly known as gotu kola, kodavan, Indian pennywort and Asiatic pennywort, is a herbaceous, perennial plant in the flowering plant family Apiaceae. It is native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia, Australia, and islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It is consumed as a culinary vegetable and is used in traditional medicine.


title: Centella asiatica

text: "Centella" grows in temperate and tropical swampy areas in many regions of the world. The stems are slender, creeping stolons, green to reddish-green in color, connecting plants to each other. It has long-stalked, green, rounded apices which have smooth texture with palmately netted veins. The leaves are borne on pericladial petioles, around . The rootstock consists of rhizomes, growing vertically down. They are creamish in color and covered with root hairs.


title: Centella asiatica

text: The flowers are white or crimson in color, born in small, rounded bunches (umbels) near the surface of the soil. Each flower is partly enclosed in two green bracts. The hermaphrodite flowers are minute in size, less than , with five to six corolla lobes per flower. Each flower bears five stamens and two styles. The fruit are densely reticulate, distinguishing it from species of "Hydrocotyle" which have smooth, ribbed or warty fruit. The crop matures in three months, and the whole plant, including the roots, is harvested manually. It is a highly invasive plant, rated as "high risk". "Centella" has numerous common names in its regions of distribution.


title: Centella asiatica

text: "Centella asiatica" is indigenous to the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and wetland regions of the Southeastern US. Because the plant is aquatic, it is especially sensitive to biological and chemical pollutants in the water, which may be absorbed into the plant. It can be cultivated in drier soils as long as they are watered regularly enough (such as in a home garden arrangement).


title: Centella asiatica

text: "Centella" contains pentacyclic triterpenoids, including asiaticoside, brahmoside, asiatic acid, and brahmic acid (madecassic acid). Other constituents include centellose, centelloside, and madecassoside.


title: Centella asiatica

text: In Burmese cuisine, raw pennywort is used as the main constituent in a salad mixed with onions, crushed peanuts, bean powder and seasoned with lime juice and fish sauce. Centella is used as a leafy green in Sri Lankan cuisine, being the predominantly locally available leafy green, where it is called . It is most often prepared as , a traditional accompaniment to rice and vegetarian dishes, such as , and jackfruit or pumpkin curry. It is considered nutritious. In addition to finely chopped plants, the may be eaten with grated coconut, diced shallots, lime (or lemon) juice, and sea salt. Additional ingredients are finely chopped green chilis, chili powder, turmeric powder, or chopped carrots. The "Centella" fruit-bearing structures are discarded from the due to their intense bitter taste. A variation of porridge known as is also made with in Sri Lanka. is made with well-boiled red rice with some extra liquid, coconut milk first extract, and purée. The porridge is accompanied with jaggery for sweetness. "Centella" leaves are also used in modern sweet pennywort drinks and herbal teas. In addition the leaves are served stir-fried whole in coconut oil, or cooked in coconut milk with garlic or .


title: Centella asiatica

text: In Indonesia, the leaves are used for "sambai oi peuga-ga", an Aceh type of salad, and is also mixed into asinan in Bogor. In Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand, this leaf is used for preparing a drink or can be eaten in raw form in salads or cold rolls. In Bangkok, vendors in the Chatuchak Weekend Market sell it alongside coconut, roselle, chrysanthemum, orange and other health drinks. In Malay cuisine it is known as pegaga, and the leaves of this plant are used for ulam, a type of vegetable salad. "C. asiatica" is widely used in various Indian regional cuisines.


title: Centella asiatica

text: In Bangladesh and India (specifically in West Bengal), Centella is called Thankuni Pata and used in various dishes, one of the most appetising of which is the pakora-like snack called Thankuni Patar Bora; made of mashed "Centella", lentils, julienne-ed onion and green chilli.


title: Centella asiatica

text: In traditional medicine, "C. asiatica" has been used to treat various disorders and minor wounds, although clinical efficacy and safety have not been scientifically confirmed. Contact dermatitis and skin irritation can result from topical application. Drowsiness may occur after consuming it. The herb may have adverse effects on liver function when used over many months.


title: Centella asiatica

text: In the context of phytoremediation, "C. asiatica" is a potential phytoextraction tool owing to its ability to take up and translocate metals from root to shoot when grown in soils contaminated by heavy metals.


title: Avane Srimannarayana

text: Avane Srimannarayana (; ) is a 2019 Indian Kannada-language fantasy adventure comedy film directed and edited by Sachin B. Ravi in his directorial debut. Jointly produced by Pushkara Mallikarjunaiah and H.K.Prakash, the film features Rakshit Shetty and Shanvi Srivastava in lead roles. B. Ajaneesh Loknath and Charan Raj composed the soundtrack, with the former composing the score, whereas Karm Chawla handled the cinematography. Described by Shetty as "Southern Odd Fiction", the film follows a corrupt police officer who takes on a bandit chief in order to recover a missing treasure in the 1980s.


title: Avane Srimannarayana

text: The film's script was written by Rakshit Shetty, Chandrajith Belliappa, Anirudh Kodgi, Abhijith Mahesh, Nagarjuna Sharma, and Abhilash. Originally announced in February 2017, the scriptwriting took 18 months to complete, with filming eventually began in March 2018 and ended in June 2019. It was filmed in portions across North Karnataka region, and a huge set was erected at Bengaluru, where 90% of the film's shoot took place. The film was shot for 200 days, thus becoming the longest Kannada film to be shot, and also the only Kannada film with the highest number of call sheets. The film was compiled with 2000 VFX shots.


title: Avane Srimannarayana

text: Produced on a budget of 200240 million, "Avane Srimannarayana" was released in Kannada on 27 December 2019 and grossed 560 million worldwide. It was simultaneously dubbed and released into different languages such as Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi. The Telugu version released on 1 January 2020. Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi versions released on Amazon Prime Video on 3 January 2020.


title: Avane Srimannarayana

text: During the 1980s in the lawless city of Amaravati, Karnataka, the ruthless bandit king Ramarama of the Abhira kingdom kills a theater troupe for stealing a government treasure before he can. He spares and abducts the troupe bandmaster for his entertainment, but finds that they have already hidden the treasure. He searches to no avail, and on his deathbed he passes the throne to his younger son Tukaram. This leads his older son Jayaram to jealously and he kills his father and wounds Tukaram before taking the throne for himself, but he promised his father in his last moments not to kill Tukaram. Jayaram declares himself king but that he won't sit on the throne till they find their rightful treasure, but they fail to even fifteen years later.


title: Avane Srimannarayana

text: The journalist Lakshmi and her cameraman Sudhakar are seen reporting on Harishchandra, a treasure hunter hired by Tukaram to find the missing treasure, but he's kidnapped during the report. Lakshmi reports this to the negligent inspector Narayana, and that the possible abductors were Jayaram's men. Narayana had mistakenly arrested four of Harishchandra's guards who were appointed by Tukaram who is now a politician bent on killing his brother. He lets them go but Tukaram catches and wishes to punish him. He forces Narayana to write a bounty on his own head, and he must find Harishchandra or be killed by mercenaries.


title: Avane Srimannarayana

text: Narayana however takes advantage of this, and secretly writes the bounty to instead be to steal the newspaper delivery van to prevent Lakshmi from reporting his mistake. He however ends up finding the kidnapped Harishchandra in the van and decides to fake a story where he rescued him for publicity. Jayaram reads about this and captures Narayana where he confesses the truth, but Jayaram lets Narayana live on the condition he'll find the treasure. It's revealed that Narayana used mercenaries to kidnap Harishchandra since he himself coveted the treasure. He also finds out from men of the earlier theater troupe that they're a religious group who believe in the prophecy of savior called Sri Hari. Since Jayaram seeks to persecute the troupe, Hari is supposed to protect them and a prophecy says an eagle will sit on the chosen one's hand. Narayana and his deputy Achyuthanna find that Harishchandra is kidnapped again by the troupe who believe he's Hari. The two disguise themselves and infiltrate the troupe festival, but an eagle sits on Narayana's arm as they're caught, causing the troupe to declare him Sri Hari.


title: Avane Srimannarayana

text: Lakshmi confronts Narayana and warns him that posing as Sri Hari is dangerous, and that a faction of the troupe don't believe the prophecy. She tricks Narayana into a trap and kidnaps him, revealing that she and Sudhakar are members of said faction. The eagle from last night was supposed to chose Sudhakar but Narayana knocked him out to take his disguise, causing him to become Sri Hari instead. Lakshmi keeps him for punishment but Narayana escapes when they leave and consults a few of the believers in the troupe, who tell him the map for the treasure exists but nowhere to be found. For this, Narayana goes back to the Abhira fort and skillfully frames a guard Narsi for pocketing Tukaram's ring, which Narayana actually stole from him earlier. He also bribes two guards to frame Narsi as a thief, so Jayaram imprisons him. This was meant to snap the bandmaster out of his trauma and have him stand up for Narsi but it fails. The bribed guards help Narayana escape the fort, and the latter summons Tukaram eventually leading to a standoff between the brothers. As Narayana escapes, Tukaram outguns Jayaram and seizes the fort. The bandmaster manages to escape, but Narayana confronts him and finds out the troupe's traditional play reveals the treasure location.


title: Avane Srimannarayana

text: Narayana goes back to Lakshmi and convinces her to help him find the treasure and save the troupe. He finds that the play tells the story of how the ocean was churned to create magical entities and one is symbolic of the treasure location. Despite Lakshmi cancelling further rehearsals, Narayana decodes the play and identifies the location as a secluded mountain forest. Some of Tukaram's men meet with Narayana to search for the treasure, while others manage to abduct the entire troupe and pour gasoline on the fort to destroy it. Jayaram manages to escape custody and kills Tukaram's men, eventually tying his brother to a cross. Narayana also finds a decoy chest with rocks, so Tukaram's men bury him alive, but Achyuthaana and other police manage to save him. Narayana deduces the real chest's location and takes it. He takes it to Jayaram and sets up snipers around the fort. He heads to the throne room and shows the treasure, stating that he'll exchange it for the troupe's lives. Narayana also shows that his men have started to burn the fort, causing Jayaram's men to renounce their loyalties and flee. Realizing he has lost everything, Jayaram fights Narayana in rage but is overpowered. Narayana evacuates the troupe and Jayaram is killed in the fire. Narayana is praised as a hero for his actions and eventually falls for Lakshmi, leading to their marriage. During the credits, Harishchandra meets Narayana's long lost father.


title: Avane Srimannarayana

text: During February 2017, Rakshit Shetty who was busy promoting the film "Kirik Party" (2016), in United States, announced that he will sign his next film, a romanctic comedy genre, with editor Sachin Ravi's directorial debut, who worked with Rakshit in "Ulidavaru Kandanthe" and "Kirik Party". The conceptual poster of the film was released on 24 December 2017, with the film being titled as "Avane Srimannarayana", which also stars Shanvi Srivastava in the female lead. It was touted to be an action comedy film, whose pre production work was expected to take place in March 2017, and the shoot will kickstart in April 2017. However, the team took 18 months to write the screenplay, as reported from a source. The film was set in the 1980s in a fictional village Amaravathi, and it was revealed that Rakshit Shetty would play a police officer.


title: Avane Srimannarayana

text: In January 2018, Rakshit Shetty, Sachin and cinematographer Karm Chawla, writers Chandrajit Belliappa and Anirudh Kodgi, went on a recce across Hubli, Gulbarga, Vijayapura, Davanagere and Dharwad, to finalize the locations for a vintage setting based for the script. He stated that "The story is set in a fictional town and needs a rustic terrain that is also dry. So wwe headed to the picturesque locales of North Karnataka to finalize the story." The team eventually finalized Basavakalyan, after Rakshit Shetty stated, "In Basavakalyana we found the perfect setting for the film. With its ruins and majestic forts, it provided just the right ambience for the script." It was reported to be the only Kannada film with the highest number of shooting call-sheets. The film was shot for 200 days with 335 call sheets where one call sheet is one man-day. The film was compiled with 2000 VFX shots.


title: Avane Srimannarayana

text: The film was launched on 14 March 2018, followed by a puja ceremony at the Dharmagiri Manjunatha Temple in Bengaluru. Rakshit Shetty and Shanvi Srivastava were present at the event. It was followed by a look test, the same week and have and the cast members doing script reading exercises. The team headed to Basavakalyan in North Karnataka regions, with shooting kickstarted on 20 March 2018, where the first schedule was held for 15 days. It was followed by a 10-day schedule in Bengaluru, where the makers filmed few scenes at a huge set erected in Kanteerava Studios. Rakshit stated "The film is set in a fictitious town and it will be shot in specially erected sets that will comprise 60% of the film. Since each of the sets requires 25 days to be put up, we will shoot the portions that will require the arid locales in North Karnataka between the time the sets get ready." On 9 May 2018, the makers wrapped the schedule in Bengaluru, and headed to Vijayapura on 15 May to shoot major sequences in the arid landscapes. On 25 May, the lead actress Shanvi joined the team to shoot her portions for the film. During filming, Rakshit simultaneously joined the launch of his new film "777 Charlie", directed by Kiranraj.