Kantara: Rooted film, national success

The Kannada action drama Kantara, which was originally released on September 30, has gone from strength to strength with each screening. The decision to dub it across Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Hindi, has made it a pan-Indian film, and reaped rich rewards, including record box office numbers. The film, which became the most viewed film in Karnataka last month, registering over 77 lakh footfalls in 25 days, has now surpassed another milestone. Sources close to the production house, Hombale Films, state that the Rishab Shetty directorial has touched the Rs 300 crore mark at the box office, with half of the collections achieved in Karnataka.

Producer SR Prabhu, who has distributed the film in Tamil Nadu through his Dream Warrior Pictures is elated “The film registered its highest collections last Sunday on October 30,” he notes, exactly a month after its original release, making this a rather admirable feat. Although he stops short of sharing actual numbers, he agrees that the film has done ‘incredibly well commercially’. “It continues to do well. We believe it has another two-three weeks left in it.” 

This unprecedented success has warranted comparisons with the blockbuster success of the various dubbed versions of another Kannada film, KGF 2. However, Prabhu believes the comparison to be unfair to both films. “There are a lot of differences like the opening day numbers, the number of screens that were allocated... For its scale, Kantara has done great numbers, but let’s not compare it to KGF 2.” In its fifth week now, Kantara is still playing in over 100 screens in Tamil Nadu.

Kantara’s portrayal of rituals and local customs has garnered praise and Prabhu too attributes the success of the film to its rootedness. “Kantara created a new world that engrossed viewers across the country. While the story might have happened in a specific interior part of Karnataka, the film’s success shows how everyone has been able to relate to it,” Prabhu signs off.

(With inputs from A Shardhaa)