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 .