One word review: THE BEGINNING
The reason I called it “The Beginning” is because with this film, the beginning of the end of casual movies has started.”The Beginning” of celebrating culture and customs has begun. “The Beginning” of content over big faces has begun.
Kantara promises you an experience that you never had experienced before. The cultural representation was spot on. Kantara is shielded with exemplary cinematography, powerful script, marvelous locations, apt casting and beautiful costumes. The music is so illuminating that it could invoke your forefathers from the Heavens. With an extremely powerful climax, Rishab shetty promises you a performance that is once in a generation.
The story is set in the village of Kantara. The forest that once was owned by the King was later donated to the people of the forest to take over his land in exchange of the “Demigod”. The King who continued his peaceful reign by brining the Demigod atleast once in a year to the village for a grand traditional festival dedicated to the Demigod where one performed the annual dance performance called the “Bhoota kola” where the people believed the God enters into the Human existence/ conscience. One day, the ritual was disrupted when the King’s son questioned the existence of the Demigod. The angered Demigod perished in the dense forest leaving his wife, and son Siva abandoned. The very next day on the gates of court, the son of the King ends up dead.
Siva’s power-packed entry on the buffaloes was brilliantly shot. The sports of Buffalo racing and its relevance in the region was beautifully shown. Comical timing of the actors was the next best thing for this film. The comedy was really needed to this really serious film, and the actor/ director, Rishab shetty got it absolutely right. The character of the villain, both by the police inspector played by Kishore, and the King’s grandson, played by Achyuth Kumar were portrayed brilliantly. The comical timing of the supporting actors were hysterical. The one thing that missed was is the depth in the relationship between the character of Siva and Guruva. The actress in the main lead gave justice to the role Leela, and the character of Siva’s mother too was satisfying.
Last but not the least; the lifetime performance by Rishab shetty will be written in the golden ink in the history when it comes to acting and justifying the culture of “Dakshnina Kannadam” and India on the whole. The climax just blows away your mind and makes you want to cry looking at the artist's work. Words cannot explain what we witnessed in the cinema hall, and so we request all the cinema lovers and readers to witness this magic called “Kantara” only on the cinema hall.
Star rating: ★★★★/★★★★★ (Four out of Five stars)
Review by Sanjay G.Singh (MD@ PEPAC)
Reach @ pepactheatre@gmail.com