The official announcement of the film was made in the first half of November 2016. Panda had been working on the script of the film for the last 8–9 years.[4] The director says that while shooting a Documentary on climate change in Odisha in the year 2005 he learned of the villages that had disappeared from the coastal line. That incident conceived the idea of making this film.
In Odisha, there were seven villages on a coastal line. They were called ‘seven brothers’. But when I reached there, I only saw two of them. I got a shock when I saw two hand-pumps inside water. I heard from people between 60-70 age group that those hand-pumps were earlier located in the middle of the village.[5]
The soundtrack of Kadvi Hawa consists of just one song, Main Banjar, which was composed by Santosh Jagdale, lyrics were written by Mukta Bhatt and sung by Mohan Kannan.
Critical reception
Sweta Kausal of Hindustan Times gave the film a rating of 4 out of 5 saying that, "This haunting tale of farmer suicides will give you goosebumps".[6] Reza Noorani of The Times of India gave the film a rating of 3 out of 5 and said that, "With powerful dialogues by Nitin Dixit and achingly beautiful lyrics by Mukta Bhatt, the film is an engrossing watch. For a serious film on global warming, Kadvi Hawa is non-preachy and entirely watchable."[7] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV praised the acting performances of Sanjay Mishra and Ranvir Shorey and the direction of Nila Madhab Panda. The critic gave the film a rating of 3.5 out of 5 and said that, Kadvi Hawa "is designed to provoke contemplation and action, a mission that it achieves without any serious slips. Watch it because it is an important film that offers an essential takeaway."[8] Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave the film a rating of 2.5 out of 5 and said that, "The Sanjai Mishra starrer feels like a stretch even at 100 minutes".[9]
Namrata Joshi of The Hindu felt that the movie was "too slow" and that its impact would have been much more with a tighter screenplay.[10] Sreehari Nair of Rediff gave the film a rating of 4 out of 5 and said that, "This is an intensely felt, beautifully expressed, piece of cinema."[11] Kriti Tulsiani of News18 praised the performances of Sanjay Mishra and Ranvir Shorey saying that, "Both Mishra and Shorey are in top form in their respective roles" and gave the film a rating of 3.5 out of 5. The Critic concluded her review by saying that, "The best part of the film perhaps is that it doesn't intend to answer or preach on the difference between right and wrong but instead leaves you with plenty to think about. Unsettling but rightly so."[12]Financial Express gave the film a rating of 3 out of 5 saying that, "The film is good in parts but could have been much better with a tighter and fast-paced narration. But overall it is worth watching as the content is top grade and the topic hot."[13]