'Kantara': How a Kannada film took on the mighty

Not so long ago, Kannada films were known to bypass the festive seasons. Competition from neighbouring industries and Bollywood has plagued Sandalwood for decades.

Last week, Rishab Shetty’s ‘Kantara’ broke the norm in stunning fashion. It took on the best in business and made a mark for itself, with many calling the ecological thriller the best theatrical experience among the big Dasara releases.

It hit the screens against legendary filmmaker Mani Ratnam’s magnum opus ‘Ponniyin Selvan: I’, the Hrithik Roshan-Saif Ali Khan starrer ‘Vikram Vedha’, and ‘Naane Varuven’ from the successful sibling combination of Selvaraghavan and Dhanush. Rishab enjoyed a great record as a director but he agrees that it required the might of a production house like Hombale Films of the ‘KGF’ franchise to stand firm in the stiff battle.

“Hombale is excellent at positioning their films. Their understanding of their audience across the world is incredible. It’s a very important aspect in film business,” Rishab tells Showtime.

Helped by a solid release strategy, ‘Kantara’ opened to rave reviews and soon became a buzzword in tinsel town. “That’s the power of word of mouth,” says Rishab. The ‘Kantara’ team, which smartly stayed away from extravagant promotions, believed in the magic of people’s verdict in the opening weekend.

“We must always look at practical possibilities of a film’s outcome,” says Rishab, who was self-aware about his reach beyond Karnataka before ‘Kantara’. Hence the film wasn’t billed as a pan-India product. It was released worldwide in Kannada with subtitles.

“We discussed on the film’s prospects in single screens and C centres. There is no point in hosting half-empty shows in the first weekend. The idea was to block the right number of theatres in the right areas and get houseful boards outside them. If people showed interest, we had plans to expand our market,” explains Rishab.

People responded in terrific fashion. The film ran to full houses across Karnataka for one week and now Hombale is learnt to have increased the show count not only in Karnataka but also in Chennai, Mumbai, and Hyderabad. Moviegoers in US, UAE and Australia are showering love on the film. The makers will soon release its Hindi dubbed version.

People, appreciative of Rishab’s performance as the rebellious Shiva, seem to have been blown away by the movie’s final 20 minutes. The film’s technical strength — terrific work from cinematographer Aravind Kashyap’s, action choreographer Vikram Mor and music composer Ajaneesh Lokanath — has left movie buffs in awe. The Dakshina Kannada audience in particular are vocal about how ‘Kantara’ is near-perfect in representing their culture.

Rishab, the director, had delivered hits like ‘Kirik Party’ (2016) and ‘Sarkari Hiriya Prathamika Shaale-Kasaragodu’ (2018) in the past. The actor in him was awaiting a blockbuster after ‘Bell Bottom’. “My previous two films ‘Harikathe Alla Girikathe’ (2022) and ‘Hero’ (2021) did reasonably well at the box office but they weren’t celebrated. But my team, including veteran producer Jayanna, who ensured a good number of theatres for Hombale, showed confidence in me. I had shown them a rough cut of two hours and 45 minutes for the sake of television rights. They were pleased,” he says.

Battling competition

A Mani Ratnam film always carries great hype around it. Apart from the director’s terrific reputation, people are enthusiastic about the all-star cast in his films. How did ‘Kantara’ withstand the ‘Ponniyin Selvan’ storm? “We knew that the film was a pride product for Tamilians as its about their King. It got great share of screens in Bengaluru. ‘Kantara’ had to hold on to its screens in the first week to stay relevant amidst the competition.

“But on the opening day itself, we realised we had won,” observes Rishab, who added that ‘Vikram Vedha’ wasn’t a danger to his film. “That’s a remake and the original had done well in Karnataka. So it didn’t have anything new to offer for our audience,” he says about the Hindi film.

Social media presence

The likes of Hombale, Rishab Shetty Films and Paramvah Studios have set a benchmark in using social media as a tool for film promotion. “I am literally living on Twitter everyday,” laughs Rishab. “In the first week, every alternate Tweet on my timeline was about ‘Kantara’. There were close to 20 thousand posts on it everyday. People on social media don’t hold back in celebrating films they like. We just need to amplify the craze,” he offers.

Masterstroke

The makers’ decision to not release any visual from the climax was a masterstroke. “We wanted to show glimpses of it in the trailer to attract crowd. But we took a strong call to surprise them in the theatres and ensured no clip from the climax was revealed,” he says.

‘Kantara’ extends the golden run of the Kannada film industry in 2022. It also serves a lesson to Kannada filmmakers about how good content backed by a well-connected, mighty production house can make waves across the globe.

A blockbuster

The first week gross collection of ‘Kantara’ is touted to be around Rs 38 crore. The film was made on an approximate budget of Rs 16 crore.

Around 100 shows were added in Bengaluru on Friday, taking the count to 350

More than 70 shows were added across India on Friday.

Additional 100 shows have been added in Australia.

Mumbai calling

‘Kantara’ has been running to packed houses at the iconic Gaiety Galaxy in Mumbai. It’s the first film to release in its original language in the theatre. Famous exhibitor and Galaxy owner Manoj Desai said, “Right from the day I put the film, it’s been a full house here. I will continue screening it.”