New Delhi: Kantara: Chapter 1, the much-awaited sequel to the original Kantara, has taken the box office by storm. According to a report by trade tracking site Sacknilk, within just six days of its release, the film has crossed the Rs 400 crore worldwide earning mark, becoming the first Kannada film of 2025 to achieve the milestone.
Written, directed and led by Rishabh Shetty, the film continues the legacy of its predecessor, earning widespread praise for its gripping narrative, breathtaking visuals and emotional depth.
At a recent press event, Rishabh Shetty and DOP (Director of Photography) Arvind S. Kashyap talked about the intense efforts behind the scenes of the film. Kashyap credited the storytelling for the visual success, saying, “The main reason people love the visuals of the film is its story, so I would like to thank the writers and directors for giving us an incredible story and there is so much to talk about, from the challenges we faced while shooting it, to the set-ups and backgrounds when we shot it.”
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Rishabh Shetty on Making Kantara: Chapter 1
Shetty also reflected on the detailed process of creating the film’s large-scale sequences, “We were both talking about, this would be such a big sequence for us, so much effort technically, physically, emotionally, and a lot of it, that when I think about it, I would get scared and embarrassed, but as a team, the contribution that everyone had, and we can’t even imagine right now, like, and even after the shoot, there was a lot of VFX, and with everyone, but in the end, The time of doing the final copy was really very hectic, like 23 hours, sometimes 36 hours, sometimes 48 hours, we did not sleep, we did not think about how we do it, we just have to do it, keeping that, we all the team moved ahead and ultimately we achieved it as a whole team.”
(Translation: “We were talking about how big that sequence was going to be, what kind of technical, physical and emotional work it would take. To be honest, we thought about it too much; we might have been scared. But as a team, with everyone contributing, we moved forward. Even after the shoot, there was a lot of VFX work. During the final stages, it was really hectic; at times we worked 23 hours straight, Sometimes 36, even 48 hours without sleep. We didn’t do that. Stop thinking about how we will do it; We just knew we had to do it. With this mentality the entire team kept moving forward and in the end together we achieved this.
Who is Pragati Shetty’s favorite character?
Rishabh Shetty’s wife also shared her thoughts during the event, revealing her favorite characters in the film: “My favorites are Gullu Boy (Gulshan Devaiah), Jayaram sir and of course, our hero, Rishabh.”
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Actor Gulshan Devaiah, who played a key role in Kantara: Chapter 1, revealed about his decision to debut in Kannada films with this project, “The biggest reason is Rishabh Shetty, we met him in 2019, we sat and ate dosa, I was his fan and he was my fan, he had seen Hunter Awara, so he met me. Our common friend introduced us I met JBB Mai, there was a passion in him, there was a passion for making cinema, there was a passion for telling stories with roots and I saw an honesty, and I wanted to be associated with this thing.”
(Translation: “The biggest reason was Rishabh Shetty. I met him in 2019, and we sat together and had dosa. I was a fan of his work, and he was a fan of mine. He had seen Hunter and some of my other projects, and he wanted to meet. A common friend introduced us. When I met him, I saw a real passion in him, a passion for making cinema, for telling rooted stories. Passion. I also saw a certain honesty in them, and I knew I wanted to be a part of something like that.”)
Gulshan Devaiah knew that “they would call him for Kantara”.
She also shared an anecdote about how she was cast, “I knew that he would call me for Kantara, like instinct, he didn’t tell me, I didn’t even ask, the first wali came, I thought it was okay, didn’t call me in the whole wali, in the second wali I knew yes he would come. I called him at 12 in the night, I didn’t pick up, we talked the next day, told him I am very excited, there is a character, It has been written keeping you in mind, we want to direct. And I felt like it would be my fault if I didn’t do it.”
(Translation: “I thought they would call me for Kantara, it was just an instinct. Nobody told me anything, and I didn’t even ask. When the first part came, I thought, OK, they didn’t call me for it. But I was sure they would call me for the second. They called me at midnight, but I didn’t pick up the phone. We talked the next day, and he said, ‘I’m really excited. There’s a character I only had you in mind. It’s written by K.K., and I want to direct it.’ At that moment, I felt that if I didn’t do it, it would be a mistake on my part.”
Kantara: Chapter 1 Record-Breaking Opening
Kantara: Chapter 1 took a stellar opening of Rs 61.85 crore on the first day, outperforming major releases like Sunny Sanskari’s Tulsi Kumari which collected Rs 10.11 crore. The film crossed the Rs 100 crore mark by the second day with a total collection of Rs 106.85 crore and is now expected to cross the Rs 500 crore mark globally.
The film stars Rishabh Shetty, Rukmini Vasanth, Jayaram and Gulshan Devaiah in lead roles. Its wider world was presented by music director B. Ajneesh Loknath, cinematographer Arvind Kashyap and production designer Vinesh Banglan have brought it to life.
The film, released on October 2, is available in seven languages: Kannada, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil, Bengali and English, contributing to its widespread success.