Kantara

Set and filmed in Keradi in coastal Karnataka, principal photography began in August 2021. The cinematography was handled by Arvind S. Kashyap, with B. Ajaneesh Loknath scoring music for the film and the action sequences were choreographed by the action director Vikram More. The production design was handled by debutant, Dharani Gange Putra.

The film was released on 30 September 2022 to critical acclaim, with praise for its cast performances (particularly those of Shetty and Kishore), direction, soundtrack, and the portrayal of Bhuta Kola. It was a major commercial success and emerged as the second highest-grossing Kannada film of all time after K.G.F: Chapter 2, released the same year. It was also 2022’s fourth highest-grossing film in India. A prequel called Kantara: Chapter 1 has been announced. Kantara was featured at the 54th IFFI Indian panorama section, where it won the Silver Peacock – Special Jury Award.

1970: The King’s descendant asks a Bhoota Kola performer, who is possessed by Panjurli to make the locals hand over the land to him, which the performer refuses and states the former will die vomiting blood if he tries to reclaim it. The descendant is skeptical of the performer’s possession by Panjurli, to which the performer replies he would vanish if he is possessed, after which he runs into a forest and is indeed never seen again. As warned and professed by the performer, the king’s successor dies mysteriously, vomiting blood a few months later on the steps of the court, where he was going to argue the land case

1990: Murali, a forest officer, is tasked with converting the villagers’ land into a forest reserve. However, he is challenged by Shiva, a Kambala athlete from the Kaadubettu village and the missing performer’s son. Shiva is backed by his patron and the village’s landlord, Devendra Suttooru, who is the king’s descendant in the present. Although Shiva has repeatedly been asked to perform the Bhoota Kola, he refuses due to the trauma of his father’s disappearance. Instead, his cousin Guruva takes his place. Murali and his staff start erecting a fence along the earmarked forest reserve and Shiva falls in love with his friend Leela. He uses his connections with Devendra to appoint her as a forest guard. The villagers try to stop the fencing, but the police and forest guards (including Leela) brutally suppress them, creating a rift between Leela and Shiva even though she was following orders and could do nothing about the situation.

As the feud between Murali and Shiva intensifies, Murali decides to arrest Shiva and his friends and heads to their hideout along with Devendra’s henchman Sudhakara. During the search, Murali’s jeep accidentally gets crushed by the trunk of a tree, which was cut by Shiva as the latter miscalculated the position of the jeep. While Murali survives with severe injuries, Shiva and his companions go undercover to avoid arrest. A few days later, they return to the village to meet their families; Shiva makes up with Leela and tells her that he will surrender. However, they are caught by the police and forest guards the next morning. Guruva asks Devendra to bail out Shiva, but during their conversation, Devendra tries to bribe him to impersonate Panjurli in the next Bhoota Kola and make the villagers hand over the land, revealing Devendra’s true intention of acquiring his land from the villagers. Guruva refuses and Devendra kills him. Learning that Murali has figured out his ulterior motive, Devendra decides to set Shiva against Murali.

Having learnt about Guruva’s death, Shiva meets Devendra, who lies that Murali is Guruva’s killer. Enraged, Shiva goes to kill Murali, but learns from his blacksmith friend Mahadeva that Devendra himself killed Guruva. While under the influence of drugs, Shiva is attacked by Devendra’s henchmen, but manages to escape and meet the villagers, whom Murali has told about Devendra’s land seizure. After Shiva reveals that Devendra killed Guruva, he and Murali set aside their grudge and unite the village. Devendra and his henchmen attack, leading to an intense battle where several of the villagers are killed. After nearly dying in the fight, Shiva hits his head against Panjurli’s stone. Guliga Daiva possesses Shiva, enabling him to brutally kill Devendra and his henchmen.

A few months after the battle, Shiva performs the Bhoota Kola, and is possessed by Panjurli. He, Murali and the villagers join hands in a symbolic gesture. Later, Shiva disappears into the forest after meeting what seems to be his father’s spirit. In the mid-credits scene, Shiva and Leela’s son asks Sundara about his father’s disappearance.