Kantara is a film written and directed by Rishab Shetty and produced by Vijay Kirangandur under the banner Hombale Films. The film has Rishab Shetty himself playing the lead role alongside Sapthami Gowda, while Achyuth Kumar and Kishore play supporting roles among others. The music is composed by Ajaneesh Lokanath, while the cinematography is by Aravind S Kashyap.

In the year 1847, a king made a deal with the god that he would give some of his forest land to the tribals in exchange for prosperous living. If the king breaks the deal, it would lead to invoking the wrath of the god. Cut to 1970, a landlord who is a part of the king's family, wants to take back the lands and it results in the god cursing him, and he dies immediately, the same way the god had predicted.

Now the year is 1990, and the landlord's son (played by Achyuth Kumar) is a respectable figure in the village, while forest officer Murali takes charge to retrieve the forest back from the villagers. Murali's nemesis is Shiva (played by Rishab Shetty), and they keep getting involved in ego clashes frequently. However, things are not what meets the eye, and the rest of the film is about the power play between Shiva, Murali, and landlord Devendra Suttooru.

There are two things very important for a film to work completely. Firstly, it needs a banger of an opening scene to grab the audience's attention immediately, and a top notch climax that makes the audience forget the flaws of the film and go back home with takeaways and memories. Kantara ticks both these boxes rightly.

The climax in special is a mindblowing concoction of Rishab Shetty's acting masterclass, Ajaneesh Lokanath's grand music, Aravind Kashyap's colours and lighting, and Rishab Shetty's writing. Rishab Shetty who doubles up as Writer-Director and Actor understands his character so well. He infuses mythology with present day elements, adds a bit of politics, and treats it in a contemporary style.

There is a ritual called Bhootha Kola that's shown in the film. It involves a folk performance by a person from the village. There are multiple instances of the same in the film. Midway through the first half, Swaraj Shetty plays the role of the performer, while in the climax, Rishab Shetty assumes that role. The differences in their treatment of the character are starkly different, and that stands testament to how excellent an actor Rishab is.

While the film has exemplary music, cinematography and everything, it is hard to stop talking about the third act where Rishab Shetty turns into a beast... quite literally. Apart from him, Kishore is quite restrained as a forest officer and Achyuth Kumar gets the cunning nature of Devendra Suttooru really well. In short, it is rare to see a film that gets the writing, acting, and technical aspects right, and at the same time remain rooted. Kantara is one such rare gem.

It would be a grave crime to call Kantara a film and reduce it to a video that played inside the cinema hall for two-and-a-half hours. It is something much more grand, rooted, and explains to the audience what the difference is between 'cinema' and 'a film'. Kantara has so many moments of cinematic brilliance spread throughout the run time.