Review: 'Kantara' delivers a movie experience unlike any other giving goosebumps

Kantara

In times of movies bombing even after having good reviews, the belief in good cinema and its appreciation is restored when you see the power of word-of-mouth being associated with lesser-known movies. Such has been the case so far for Kantara, the Kannada movie that is written, acted and directed by Rishab Shetty.

Having heard so much about it already and the Hindi dubbed version all set for a release this Friday, I had the chance to see the film beforehand and here is what I thought about it-

The Age-Old Conflict & Retelling Folkore

Right from the get-go, we are transported to 1870, where a small story is told about a king and how he traded acres of land with the local tribal people in exchange of happiness by Daiva (local demigod). 100 years later, the king's successor tries to obtain the land back but succumbs to the wrath of Daiva. After the short version of these two timelines, the film actually beings in 1990, where things are a lot more complicated as a forest officer Muralidhar (Kishore) is trying to get the forest land but is challenged by protagonist Shiva (Rishab Shetty) with the present day successor of the king, Devendra (Achyut Kumar).

My idea was not to tell this whole plot here but it is so important to understand this to have a more immersive experience in this fascinating world. The crux of the story is simple and predictable but the idea of using the age-old conflict of man vs nature and man vs beliefs by retelling folklore is innovative film making at its absolute best.

Shiva - one of the best written characters

It is almost fitting that director Shetty has wrote the best possible part for himself as he leads the charge, Shiva is a strong and macho man, who can hit multiple men left, right and center and while he is expected to carry on the Bhoota duties from his ancestral father (who did the same), he is too busy giving into the temptations of life - alcohol, love and sex. As masculine as his exterior is; he is vulnerable and scared with his inner demons that haunt him in his dreams. Shiva hunting wild boars is a running motif which makes sense towards the end because he was doing so considering how they haunt him in his dreams. To be able to transform into the 'demi-god', Shiva needs to tame his inner demons. It is such a layered character and considering it is the protagonist, it only becomes an added bonus to have him do the usual commercial slo-mo shots while also presenting shades of emotions.

Fantastic Cinematography, Impeccable Sound Design and Brilliant Background Score

The three pillars of Kantara, apart from Shetty's one-man army effort has to be the cinematography, sound design and background score. Arvind Kashyap, the cinematographer captures each and every frame of the film with a sense of beauty and authenticity that is seldom seen in such films. You would be reminded of the Malayalam film, Jallikattu at a few instances, when the camera captures drone shots of villagers moving with marshals in darkness of the forests. The entire sound department consisting of Raju Albert, Sandeep Kumar, Arun S. Mani and Narayanan SP deserve all the plaudits for capturing the sound in the best possible way and the couple of jump scares included are so brilliantly timed that you just marvel at it. The Hindi dubbed songs were a huge miss but that cannot take away from the riveting and arousing background score that B. Ajanessh Loknath and his team has managed to bring in. From probably the most local and raw instruments to electric guitar tunes, music is easily the backbone of this entire experience.

Asking a Little Too Much

The only flaw per se that Kantara would have is not even exactly a flaw. It demands your undivided attention. You cannot be sitting in the cinema hall fidgeting with your cell phone or talking in between because if you miss a few key scenes, you might be taken out of this world and find it difficult to come back in. The only instance you can do that would be be the love montage and just like any such film, the love song and the underwritten female character is the only small drawback that it possesses.

An Innovative and Immersive Experience

Kantara is a movie experience unlike any other and especially the last 15 odd minutes of the climax are so mind-boggling that it makes the entire film one to remember. You are an atheist or not, a religious person or not, Kantara manages to suck you into the tribal folklore of Kambla and Bhootha Kala in the most immersive way possible. From some commercial potboiler moments to brilliant writing, the overall takeaway from the film can only be all positive.

The Verdict

In the end, Kantara is the kind of cinematic spectacle that you were craving for and you didn't even know it. Shetty's staggering feat of acting, writing and directing singe-handedly with perfection and the rest of his crew provide you with brilliance and insane fun!

Rating - **** (4/5)