Movie: Kantara
Rating: 3/5
Cast: Rishab Shetty, Kishore, Achyuth Kumar, Sapthami Gowda
Director: Rishab Shetty
Produced By: Vijay Kiragandur
Release Date: 30th September (Kannada), 15th October (Telugu)
Kantara has grasped the whole country’s imagination with its stunning box-office numbers and rave reviews. This Kannada action thriller made on a modest budget has raked in massive returns in every territory and has already crossed 100 crores at the box office and is expanding its screening numbers with every passing day. What’s the film about? And what are its strong points? Let’s check out
Story: Set in the serene forests of Karnataka, Kantara is a fight for land and forest by its locals. The story starts in the 19th century when the forest lands were donated by the king to the locals. In the present times, this forest cover has become the bone of contention for local landlords, the forest departments, and the locals. How the clash proceeds is what the film is largely about. With a strong influence of tribal culture, deity worship, Kambala, and breathtaking visuals, Kantara takes us deep into Kundapur, a small village in Karnataka.
Performances: Rishab Shetty has written and directed this project along with playing the lead role- Shiva. Shiva is rebellious, and witty and has been well portrayed by Shetty who captures the very essence of a small village guy with big courage. Kishore as the forest officer has a meaty role and does complete justice with his impressive screen presence. Sapthami Gowda as Leela has little to perform and is there just as a love interest of Shiva with no big consequence to the movie. Other actors like Achyuth and Swaraj Shetty play their parts to perfection.
Analysis: The biggest strength of Kantara is its screenplay which wastes no time in transforming the audience into its world. The movie is pacy in the first half with enough entertaining moments and establishes itself well for an entertaining second half. This is where the film loses its part and the second half pales in comparison and is unable to engage viewers due to some cliched scenes and illogical writing. The film would have been much better and more engaging is the second-half screenplay was tighter. It is however the pre-climax and climax portions that breathe life into the movie and transport us into a world of visual feast and technical brilliance.
Plus Points:
- Cinematography
- Screenplay
- Climax portion
- Entertaining first half
Minus Points:
- Predictable scenes
- Runtime
- Characterization
Verdict:
Kantara is a visual feast with a roaring climax and entertaining sequences all over. Barring a few scenes which give you a deja vu feeling, the movie has been written crisply and engages the audience right from the first frame. The film deserves a theatrical viewing and anything short of that will disallow you to enjoy the technical brilliance of Arvind Kashyap’s cinematography and Ajaneesh’s BGM.
