Clearly, not everyone aspires to foray into Bollywood or have their movies remade in B-town. And well, director Rishab Shetty of Kantara fame, an acclaimed Sandalwood movie, belongs to a similar school of thought. The Kannada film has been tagged ‘a sleeper hit’, and in terms of business, the movie has surpassed many mainstream Bollywood biggies. However, in a recent interview, Shetty averred how a Hindi remake of the movie isn’t really a good idea.

“I don’t know. I can’t think of anyone because I don’t know how I would explain this to another actor. I am emotionally connected to the Daiva Kola sequence. I can’t even explain how I did it myself because it’s an emotional and spiritual journey. You have to believe in it. We have seen all this since we were kids. There are a lot of good actors here, but this character of Shiva, I can’t imagine anyone playing it,” he stated.

Kantara is based on the folklore of coastal Karnataka, and the movie sheds light on the kind of land politics that people often fall prey to. The narrative also gives deeper insights into how the locals of the region staunchly believe in Daivas, and how it keeps them going.

Initially, when the film was only released across theatres in Karnataka. Eventually, as the movie’s popularity skyrocketed, the makers decided to dub the movie in other regional languages like Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam. Made on a reported budget of Rs. 16 crores, Kantara has already crossed the amount of Rs. 289.21 crores at the box office.

“It is a film from our land, from our roots, stories that are heard through generations, untapped and deeply rooted to our culture. Kantara is a mysterious forest and this is a story that happens around the area… The film title has a tagline calling it a dhanta kathe or a legend. I did not want to give the film a straight or direct title. The word is not used often. While it has Sanskrit origins, it is used in Kannada too,” he enthused, as per recent reports.

Lead Image: Homable Films