It wasn’t much of a surprise when the Kannada breakthrough film Kantara was announced winner of the National Award (in the Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment) category. The film that cost Rs 16 crore to make, had raked in Rs 450 crore globally. It had broken regional boundaries, capturing the imagination of the entire country.
It was even less of a surprise when Rishab Shetty was announced a National Award winner too (for Best Actor). This was a win richly deserved for a performance so profoundly internalised, in a film that ventured into folklore and explored the intricate layers of rural livelihood, drawing inspiration from diverse cultural nuances of the Dakshina Kannada region. Much like the film itself, Rishab’s was no docile work.
This was intensity and aggression rarely seen on screen; this was culture so proudly flaunted in all its authenticity. This was an actor possessed, in playing a character who is supposed to be possessed by a forest god. Every person who has seen the film knows that feeling of being in a trance at the end, walking out of the theatre unable to come to grips with the incredulity of the final portions of Kantara.
In that rousing end, Rishab ensures total submission to the scene, not once conscious of his own performance. It helps that Rishab Shetty has been familiar with such traditional folk-dance forms from college. Brought up in the small town of Keradi near Mangaluru, the actor-director’s previous films too indicate his interest in local traditions.
Speaking with us just after receiving the news of his National Award, Rishab said, “The Kambala races (buffalo racing), the Daiva Narthakas (shamanistic dance) ...
I use the cinema medium to showcase the innocence and cultural strength of my childhood memories.” Kantara has elevated Rishab Shetty into the cinema consciousness of the country, but it wasn’t always this good for the maverick artist. He juggled various vocations (mineral water supplier and a brief foray into the hotel industry, among other experiments) before doing small acting gigs and eventually turning filmmaker with Ricky (2016).
But it was another film released in the same year, Kirik Party, that brought in the real laurels. The film was screened for a whole year in Karnataka theatres. With his next film, Sarkari Hi.
Pra. Shaale, Kasaragodu, Koduge: Ramanna Rai (2018), Rishab began showing his interest in rural stories, in the lives of everyday people. In hindsight, it would seem he was getting warmed up for a tour de force in his next directorial venture, Kantara.
The divine screams of a man possessed in the climax is among the most unforgettable visuals of Indian cinema in the last decade. There was little inkling that such excellence was to come when Rishab began his career by doing small acting gigs in films like Tuglak (2012), Attahasa (2013), and Lucia (2013). Rishab decided to turn actor, inspired by the legendary Rajkumar’s work.
Actor Upendra was another important influence. Rishab’s acting recognition eventually came with his big break in Bell Bottom (2019), followed by top grossers l ike Avane Srimannarayana and Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana (2021). These successes, it would seem, gave him the confidence needed to star in his own directorial, which has fetched him accolade after accolade, now being capped off by a National Award.
Rishab is quite pleased by such recognition and said as much in the aftermath of the latest win. “I feel a heightened responsibility to strive for better cinema.” This recognition isn’t just a personal win for Rishab; it’s a collective win for Kannada cinema.
He has long spoken about the heritage of Kannada cinema, living, breathing and revelling in it from childhood. In almost every interview about Kantara’s success, you can see him lobbying for the popularity of Kannada cinema, recognising the good work done by the production house, Hombale Films (behind KGF Chapter 2 and Kantara). He now hopes to build on this momentum with his upcoming film, the much-anticipated Kantara prequel.
Initial footage already promises another rooted film, full of intensity and spirituality. Armed with the National Award now, we can remain assured that Rishab will entirely devote himself to the task..
.jpg)
