On February 6, 2024, Rishabh Shetty’s directorial film Kantara completed 100 days at the box office.
Highlights
Kantara
Kantara is an Indian-language Kannada action thriller, written and directed by Rishab Shetty and produced by Vijay Kiragandur, under the banner of Hombale Films.
The plot of the film revolves around a Kambala champion, Kaadubettu Shiva (Rishabh Shetty), and his face-off with the forest officer Murli (Kishore). The movie was filmed in Keradi, in coastal Kerala. The film revolves around the villagers’ beliefs in the Bhoota Kola festival and their protector Shiva’s battle with the forest officers.
The film was made on a budget of 16 crores, and it went on to collect 450 crores at the box office. After the stupendous success of the film, the Government of Karnataka announced a monthly allowance for Bhoota Kola performers over the age of 60.
The film was originally released in Kannada and dubbed in other languages: Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Tulu, and Hindi.
The film has been released on the OTT platforms of Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
100 Days of Blockbuster Kantara
Kantara was released on September 30, 2022, and the film was a game changer for the Kannada film industry, making Rishabh Shetty a PAN India star overnight. The film was highly acclaimed for its performance, direction, story design, and accurate presentation of the “Bhoota Kola” festival. The film achieved stupendous success and emerged as the second highest-grossing Kannada film of all time.
As the film completed 100 days at the box office, on February 6, 2024, director-actor Rishab Shetty announced a prequel to the film as the fans were eager to know the back story of the disappearance of Shiva’s father and more about the Bhoota Kola festival.
Deeply rooted in Indian culture, the film earned immense love and popularity from all across the nation, including from renowned celebrities, political dignitaries, cricketers, and the audience.
Amidst the success of the film, the fans have received exciting news of its prequel officially from its director and actor, Rishabh Shetty. In a recent interview, Rishab stated: “We are very pleased and thankful to the audience who have shown immense love and support to the film, and are taking the journey ahead. With the blessing of Lord Daiva, the film has successfully completed its 100 days, and I would like to take this opportunity to announce the prequel to Kantara. “What you have seen is actually Part 2, and Part 1 (prequel) will come next year.”
Rishab further added, “The idea of the prequel had flashed into my mind while I was shooting for Kantara, because the history of Kantara has more depth to it, and presently, if the writing part is concerned, we are in the middle of digging into more details.” “The film discussed agriculture, feudalism, land encroachment, environmental protection issues, humans, nature conflict, Shiva’s journey, etc. “As the research is still in progress, it would be very early to reveal details about the film.”
After the success of the film, producer Vijay Kiragandur also opened up about the same and stated: “Kantara introduced the audience to a new cinema altogether, and we would love to sustain and in fact boost the rage that the film has created among the audience on the screens by announcing the prequel, as the film has now completed its 100 days.”
He further added: Shetty and our team have been working on the story meticulously, as the film has many more things to tell the audience while opening the back story of Kantara. “We can guarantee that the prequel to Kantara is going to be more massive and grand than before.”
At an event, Rishab recalled his journey with Kantara and mentioned how regional cinema, like his directorial, has become popular all over India with its release in multiple languages. He even credited the success to the entire cast and crew, who contributed throughout the project.
It is said that in Mangalore, Rishab Shetty sought the permission of Lord Panjurli, who gave his consent to make the film with three warnings. The prequel to Kantara will be produced by Vijay Kiragandur and Chaluve Gowda under Hombale Films. The film will be helmed by Rishabh Shetty in the lead.
Kantara: The Prequel is all set to be released in 2024.
