If the world of Kantara is powered by divine spirits, the film’s driving force is Rishab Shetty. Shetty produced, wrote, directed and acted in a double role in Kantara, which stands out for its clever mix of folklore and action movie tropes. The film spoke about a host of issues, ranging from the conservation of the environment to casteism, and packaged them in dramatic sequences that were mesmerising for the way they were filmed. Shetty’s own performance of the bhoota kola rituals is particularly powerful and his telling of a tale set in a village in Dakshina Kannada did more business than even K.G.F.: Chapter 2 at the Karnataka box office. Kantara then went on to become a pan-Indian hit. After its release, in its first 10 weeks, Kantara set the most number of weekly records for an Indian film since Baahubali 2.
