Kantara is turning out to be a sleeper hit, running chiefly on the fuel of word of mouth. Very rarely do I venture into a multiplex, but when the family insisted that it was our 'national duty' to watch this film since everyone else was, just as during Dangal, I had to give in. But of course, my grouse is about the multiplex experience, not the film per se; the film itself is first rate.
Think of Thithi in terms of the rustic rawness, and you have it in this. Think of Jallikattu in terms of beautifully lit night scenes in the jungle and background music, and you have them in this. Think of the eerie jungle mystique of Churuli, and you have that here. Think of Karnan in terms of the village being under siege and the villagers fighting back against the police/landlord, and you can see the similarity.
But then Kantara is not confined to any of these descriptions; it stands alone in its own right as a showcase of the culture of Uttara Kannada/Malenadu/Udupi regions of Karnataka, specifically of bhuta kola, or the spirit dance/worship artform. The situations and dialect is so true to the region, that even Kannada audiences need to read the subtitles sometimes to make sense of the drama, which comes with a smattering of Tulu, the local language.
Kantara could have ended up like a documentary, but the makers have come up with a clever combination of intrigue, culture, spirituality and humour to keep one engrossed for the two and half hour duration of the film. I could almost taste the ele-adike (betel leaf & nut) in my mouth as the scenes showing the natural beauty and culture of Kundapura unfolded. And as touted, the denouement is captivating. There are sexual innuendos and swear words throughout, which makes it difficult to classify this as a family film.
The film is not without flaws: it could have lingered on certain moments instead of the breakneck pace we get to see, the change in the landlord's and police officer's characters could have been shown more convincingly, the mother's lament that her son is walking in the footsteps of his father is not explored fully, the entire romantic/sexual angle could have been more implicit or even eliminated, and the background music, though excellent, could have been toned down a bit, but I suspect this is down to the multiplexes jacking up the volume rather than any fault of the makers.
Kantara goes to show what can be achieved by focusing on our indigenous culture, rather than the standard Bollywood fare that major production houses dish out. It also demonstrates the stature of regional, especially South Indian, cinema that is growing with every outing. Not least, this is a successful demonstration of the untapped cinematic potential of our culture, spirituality, smritis, shrutis, puranas, and itihasas, which, if Kantara's success is any indication, we will be thankfully seeing more of.
The only blemish on Kantara is that one of its songs appears to be more than 'inspired' by another music group's song which is at least five years old. It would be prudent for Kantara's makers to acknowledge this if they haven't done so, and give due credit to the original song's makers.
This does not, however, diminish what Kantara otherwise achieves. In a time when needless remakes of old classics or films from other languages are the norm - not to mention the biopics galore on every conceivable high achiever - Kantara is a rare danta kathe, or a folktale, that is remake-proof: neither is it a remake of anything else, nor can anyone remake it into another language given that it is a product of a specific local culture.
So, well done to the entire team. Highly recommended viewing!
Picture source: https://www.deccanherald.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/rishab-i-always-aim-to-reflect-issues-of-society-1147789.html
