2022 has not been the best year for Indian movies. After the audience became extremely selective about the movies, and hence the footfalls have decreased drastically. The pandemic break proved to be a massive turning point for the movies as the nature of content changed post that.
A shift was seen in the approach of the audiences as content gained an upper hand over the star power involved in the projects. A result of this phenomenon was the failure of several big-budget movies backed by the biggest studios in the country and starring A-list actors. Whereas content-rich movies, with relatively lesser budgets and unknown actors did wonder.
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Kantara is one such sweet story. The mega success of this Kannada film is a phenomenon that will serve as a case study for several years. The Rishabh Shetty directorial movie is a fine commentary on the ‘Bhoota Kola’ culture in the coastal pockets of Karnataka. Kantara is one of the rare Indian movies which gained the both critical appreciation and box office numbers in 2022.
Reports state the actor-director of the movie, Rishabh Shetty, has started working on the sequel on a war footing. According to the sources, Rishabh Shetty has turned down a comedy movie named ‘Bachelor Party’ by Rakshit Shetty, as he is busy with the sequel of his mega-hit.
Why a sequel?
Kantara follows the life of the protagonist Shiva, who, in a rather coincidental manner, takes forward the centuries-old culture of his family. ‘Kantara’ ends with a question. There is no immediate conclusion to the story of the protagonist, however there are enough hints to show that the story of the generational tradition, would be carried forward in the sequel.
A snapshot from the climax
‘Kantara’ as a whole is a complete screenplay, where all the smaller conflicts are resolved. Hence there is rife speculation about the continuation of the story. As the development of the sequel has already begun, there are several fan theories on what the sequel might look like.
Theories on Kantara 2
After performing the last Kola, Shiva is seen running away, just as his father did, and ‘disappear’ from the ring of fire. The climax is, in many ways, similar to the beginning of the movie.
The last scene of the movie reveals that the entire episode of Shiva was a story that was being narrated to a young kid. The kid, who is most probably Shiva’s son, will be the protagonist of the next installment of the movie. But what about the anti-hero?
Kantara 2 is expected to see the return of Shiva, played by Rishabh Shetty
Although presented as class conflict, and exploitation of the indigenous community by the hands of the privileged, the movie boils down to the conflict between two families. While Shiva and his father met the same end (disappearing after performing the Kola), Devendra Suttooru (saheb) and his father also met the same end (an awful death).
In one of the scenes, Devandra is seen talking to his specially-abled child. If the same nature of conflict is to be followed, Shiva’s son will face Devandra’s son as a major challenge in the second part. The climax of ‘Kantara’ makes it clear that the land which was donated to the villagers, was annexed by Devendra. Thus the subplot of the families fighting for the land of the villagers will also continue in the second part.
