Kantara (ಕಾಂತಾರ) (Template:IPA-kn; Soldier) is a 2022 Indian Kannada-language action thriller film[3] written and directed by Rishab Shetty, and produced by Vijay Kiragandur,[4] under Hombale Films. The film stars Shetty as a Kambala champion who is at loggerheads with an upright DRFO officer, Murali (played by Kishore).
Set and filmed in Keradi in coastal Karnataka, principal photography began in August 2021.[5] The cinematography was handled by Arvind S. Kashyap, with B. Ajaneesh Loknath scoring music for the film and the action sequences were choreographed by the action director Vikram More. The production design was handled by debutant, Dharani Gange Putra.
Kantara was released on 30 September 2022 and received acclaim from critics, who praised the cast performances (particularly those of Shetty and Kishore), direction, writing, production design, cinematography, proper showcasing of the Bhoota Kola, action sequences, editing, soundtrack, and musical score.[6] The film was a huge commercial success and emerged as the second highest-grossing Kannada film of all time, as well as the second highest-grossing Kannada film of 2022.
Plot[]
In 1847, a king agrees with Panjurli Daiva/Bhoota (a local deity worshipped in its animist form by the people of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada, which are parts of Karnataka and Kasargod district of Kerala) to give a portion of his forest land to the locals in exchange for peace and happiness granted by a shaman who is supposedly possessed by Daiva. He warns the king that his family and successors should keep the word and not reclaim the land which will incur the wrath of Panjurli's companion, the Guliga Daiva.
In 1970, the king's successor asks the Bhoota Kola performer (Shiva's father), who is supposedly possessed by Panjurli, to make the locals handover the land to him, to which the performer denies. He raises the doubt on performer's possession by Panjurli, to which the performer replies he would vanish in the forest if he is indeed possessed by Panjurli and then runs into forest and magically disappears, implying he was indeed possessed by Panjurli. The performer (Panjurli in his body) also warns the king's successor of a fateful ending when the latter threatens to take a legal action to reclaim land. The king's successors eventually dies a mysterious death a few months later, vomiting blood, on the steps of the court, as warned by Panjurli.
In 1990, Muralidhar is a forest officer tasked with converting that land into a forest reserve. He is challenged by Shiva, a Kambala athlete from Kaadubettu. Shiva is backed by his patron and the village's landlord, Devendra Suttooru, who is the king's successor in the present day. Murali and his staff start erecting a fence along the earmarked forest reserve. Shiva's girlfriend, Leela, is a newly recruited forest guard in Murali's staff. Shiva and the villagers try to stop the fence from being erected but the police and forest guards brutally suppress them and erect it, which causes a rift between Leela and Shiva, even though she could do nothing about it. Meanwhile, Shiva is asked to perform the Bhoota Kola but he denies as he is traumatized by the event of his father's mystical disappearance.
As the feud between Murali and Shiva intensifies further, Murali decides to arrest Shiva and his friends and heads to their hideout along with Devendra's henchman, Sudhakara. However, Shiva and his friends go into hiding. A few days later, they return to their respective homes to meet their families and Shiva makes up with Leela and tells her that he will surrender to the police but the following morning, all are caught by the police and forest guards. When Shiva's cousin Guruva, who performs Bhoota Kola, requests Devendra to release Shiva, the latter tries to bribe him and asks him to tell villagers to return his ancestral land back to him on Bhoota Kola festival and make the villagers believe, that it is indeed Guliga's word. Guruva refuses due to which Devendra kills him. Devendra learns that Murali has figured out his ulterior motive and decides to set Shiva against him.
Having learnt about Guruva's death, Shiva meets Devendra, who lies about Murali being Guruva's killer. Enraged, Shiva heads to kill Murali, but learns from his friend Mahadeva, the blacksmith, that Devendra himself is Guruva's killer. Shiva is attacked by Devendra's henchmen, Kumara and others, but manages to escape. After Murali tells Shiva about Devendra's motive of acquiring the land, Shiva meets the villagers and reveals that it was Devendra who killed Guruva. Devendra and his henchmen attack the village where an intense battle ensues. Shiva, who almost gets killed in the fight, gets possessed by Guliga Daiva and kills Devendra and his henchmen.
A few months after the battle, Shiva performs the Bhoota Kola in which he is possessed by the Panjurli Daiva. He makes Murali and the villagers join hands in a symbolic gesture and disappears into the forest forever after meeting what seems to be his father's spirit. The film ends with Shiva and Leela's son asking Sundara about his father's disappearance and Sundara narrating the same, implying that the entire film was narrated as per Sundara's narration.
Cast[]
- Rishab Shetty as Kaadubettu Shiva and Shiva's father
- Sapthami Gowda as Leela
- Kishore as Muralidhar, a Deputy Range Forest Officer (D.R.F.O)
- Achyuth Kumar as Devendra Suttooru
- Pramod Shetty as Sudhakara
- Shanil Guru as Bulla
- Prakash Thuminad as Raampa
- Manasi Sudhir as Kamala, Shiva's mother
- Naveen D Padil as Lawyer
- Swaraj Shetty as Guruva, Shiva's cousin brother
- Deepak Rai Panaaje as Sundara
- Pradeep Shetty as Mohana
- Rakshith Ramachandra Shetty as Devendra's Henchman
- Chandrakala Rao as Sheela, Sundara's Wife
- Sukanya as Ammakka , Devendra's Wife
- Sathish Acharya as Tabara , Leela's Father
- Pushparaj Bollar as Garnall Abbu
- Raghu Pandeshwar as Raghu, Forest Officer
- Mime Ramdas as Naaru
- Basuma Kodagu as Guruva's father
- Ranjan Saju as Lacchu
- Rajeev Shetty as Rajeev Bhandari
- Atish Shetty as Devendra's specially-abled son
- Radhakrishna Kumbale as a native resident
- Naveen Bondel as Demigod Interpreter
Cameo appearances[]
- Shine Shetty as Devendra's father
- Vinay Biddappa as the King
- Pragathi Rishab Shetty as the King's wife
Production[]
TBA
Music[]
The music of the film was composed by B. Ajaneesh Loknath. Alongside him, 30–40 musicians were brought in. Mostly involving folklore music represented using Jaanapada songs using traditional instruments, the team took was assisted by Mime Ramdas. Songs usually sung by common people during crop harvest and those popular among the tribals of the area were used as a part of the album and the background score.[7] The song "Varaha Roopam" is supposedly plagiarised from the song "Navarasam" as claimed by the band Thaikkudam Bridge which released Navarasam in 2017.[8]
| Kantara | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by B. Ajaneesh Loknath | ||||
| Released | 18 October 2022 | |||
| Recorded | 2021–22 | |||
| Genre | Feature Film soundtrack | |||
| Length | 22:14 | |||
| Language | Kannada | |||
| Label | Hombale Music AA Films | |||
| Producer | Bobby C.R. B. Ajaneesh Loknath | |||
| B. Ajaneesh Loknath chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Template:External music video | ||||
| Singles from Kantara | ||||
| ||||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Singara Siriye" | Pramod Maravanthe | Vijay Prakash, Ananya Bhat | 4:42 |
| 2. | "Rebel Song" | Shashiraj Kavoor | Mime Ramdas, Rishab Shetty | 3:19 |
| 3. | "Karma Song" | Trilok Trivikrama | Venkatesh DC | 3:03 |
| 4. | "Varaha Roopam Daiva Va Rishtam" | Shashiraj Kavoor | Sai Vignesh | 4:36 |
| 5. | "Vaa Poruluya" | Shashiraj Kavoor | B. Ajaneesh Loknath, Mime Ramdas | 3:19 |
| 6. | "Vaa Poruluya" (Tulu version) | Shashiraj Kavoor | B. Ajaneesh Loknath, Mime Ramdas | 3:15 |
| Total length: | 22:14 | |||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Khawabon Mein" | Arafat Mohamood | Nakash Aziz, Chinmayi Sripada | 4:38 |
| 2. | "Le Le Le Le Lega" | Arafat Mohamood | Shatadru Kabir | 3:12 |
| 3. | "Qismat Jo" | Arafat Mohamood | Venkatesh DC | 3:02 |
| 4. | "Varaha Roopam" | Shashiraj Kavoor | Sai Vignesh | 4:36 |
| 5. | "Vaa Poruluya" | Shashiraj Kavoor | Mime Ramadas | 3:13 |
| Total length: | 18:41 | |||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Meri Jaaniye" | Arafat Mohamood | Vijay Prakash, Ananya Bhat | 4:42 |
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "He Semmandha Azhage" | Palani Bharathi | Haricharan, Chinmayi Sripada | 4:38 |
| 2. | "Aanamale Kaatukulla" | Palani Bharathi | Gold Devaraj | 3:19 |
| 3. | "Manidhanin Payanathil" | Palani Bharathi | Venkatesh DC | 3:03 |
| 4. | "Varaha Roopam" | Shashiraj Kavoor | Sai Vignesh | 4:36 |
| 5. | "Vaa Poruluya" | Shashiraj Kavoor | Mime Ramadas | 3:13 |
| Total length: | 19:07 | |||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Andhaala Nadhive" | Bhaskarabhatla | Haricharan, Chinmayi Sripada | 4:42 |
| 2. | "Kaakulainaa Dhooraleni" | Bhaskarabhatla | Hemanth | 3:04 |
| 3. | "Karme Rayiga" | Gosala Ramababu | Sri Krishna | 3:03 |
| 4. | "Varaha Roopam" | Shashiraj Kavoor | Sai Vignesh | 4:36 |
| 5. | "Vaa Poruluya" | Shashiraj Kavoor | Mime Ramadas | 3:19 |
| Total length: | 19:07 | |||
Release[]
Kantara was released in theatres in Kannada on 30 September 2022 in more than 250 theatres across Karnataka, and simultaneously in the US, UK, Europe, Middle East and Australia among other places globally.[9] After the success in Kannada, the makers announced that the film will be dubbed in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam languages and was released on 14 October 2022 in Hindi and 15 October 2022 in Telugu and Tamil.[10][11] Though the Hindi version was announced to be released in over 800 screens across the country,[12] later it was reported to be released in 2500 screens in the Hindi version.[13] It became the first Kannada movie to be released in Vietnam.[14]
Home media[]
The satellite and digital rights of the film were secured by Star Suvarna and Amazon Prime Video.[15]
Reception[]
TBA
Box office[]
TBA
References[]
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- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs named:377 - ↑ [TBA Kantara Day 1 Box Office Collection: Rishab's Action Drama Opens With Decent Numbers].
- ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>[TBA "ರಿಷಭ್ ಶೆಟ್ಟಿ ನಿರ್ದೇಶಿಸಿ ನಟಿಸಿರುವ 'ಕಾಂತಾರ' ಸಿನಿಮಾ ಕೆಜಿಎಫ್ಗಿಂತ ಭಿನ್ನ: ನಿರ್ಮಾಪಕ ವಿಜಯ್ ಕಿರಗಂದೂರು"] Check
|url=value (help). Kannadaprabha (in Kannada). Retrieved 30 September 2022. - ↑ [TBA Rishab Shetty and Sapthami Gowda starrer Kantara film's shoot begins tomorrow] (en) (27 August 2021).
- ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>[TBA "Kantara Twitter review: Celebs and netizens hail Rishab Shetty's film as a masterpiece"] Check
|url=value (help). Ottplay. Retrieved 30 September 2022. - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedtnie1 - ↑ [TBA Kerala-based music band Thaikkundam Bridge accuses Kantara film team of plagiarism] (en) (24 October 2022).
- ↑ <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>[TBA "Rishab Shetty's 'Kantara' to release in 250-plus theatres across Karnataka"] Check
|url=value (help). The New Indian Express. 26 September 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022. - ↑ [TBA Kantara: Rishab Shetty starrer Kannada blockbuster to release in Hindi on THIS date].
- ↑ [TBA Template:-'Kantara' Tamil dubbed version to release on October 15].
- ↑ [TBA Hindi version of Kannada blockbuster 'Kantara' to release on October 14 - the Economic Times].
- ↑ [TBA ಹಿಂದಿಗೆ ಡಬ್ ಆದ ರಿಷಬ್ ಶೆಟ್ಟಿಯ 'ಕಾಂತಾರ'; ಬರೋಬ್ಬರಿ 2500 ಸ್ಕ್ರೀನ್ಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ರಿಲೀಸ್!] (kn).
- ↑ [TBA Kantara on OTT: Rishab Shetty's blockbuster to begin streaming in November?]. “The film's satellite and digitsls were already sold to Star Suvarna and Amazon Prime Video respectively.”
External links[]
- Template:IMDb