Kantara director Rishab Shetty spoke about the importance of telling a hyperlocal story, exploring the theme of nature in his latest film and why he thinks pan-India films is a flawed concept. Shetty, who was also the film’s lead, discussed these topics with veteran film producer TG Thayarajan at an IFFI (International Film Festival of India) session titled Representing Cultural Diversity and Identifying New Markets.

Talking about his character in Kantara, Rishab said, “I wrote Kantara because I wanted to act in it. For years, I wanted to play a character like Shiva but I never got a chance to do that and got busy with direction. I was the lead in Bell Bottom, which is a comedy genre, and after that I was offered a lot of comedy and underdog roles. I felt that if I will accept these roles then I will be limiting myself to this particular genre and I won’t be able to express the angry young man who’s inside me. That’s why I wrote this role.”

Asked if he thinks the world is warming up to regional films from India, Rishab said that it is the power of cinema. He said, “There is a need to tell local stories because the more rooted and local a story is, the more unique it would be and these unique stories have a universal appeal.”

He added, “If I am going to tell you a story of my own village, which I did in Kantara, then you will not get that particular story from that particular village on any OTT platform or in world cinema because that story is unique to my own village. Hence, I feel that there is a dire need to tell unique stories. So if I bring a story from my village and present it in a new format then people are going to like it. There is nothing new in stories. It is just the treatment of the story that is always new. I believe that the more regional a story is, the more universal it is.”

Kantara was dubbed after its release in five languages, including Hindi, because of the demand. Rishab said, “Now it has become a pan-India film. There is no formula for a pan-India film. It is the audience connect that matters.”

In response to a question if he would be interested in doing films in other languages besides Kannada? Rishab said, “Main Kannada film karna chahta hoon. Across the country and even the world, people have transcended the language barrier and watched Kantara, and showered me with so much love and respect, but I’ve come from the Karnataka film industry and Kannada people have given me a platform to tell my stories. Karnataka meri karmbhoomi hai aur main udhar hi films karna chahta hoon. If my film in Kannada language reaches people in other states – be it Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam then I’ll dub the film and release it.”

Rishab also confirmed that Kantara is being dubbed in multiple foreign languages.

Rishab dismissed the idea of pan-India films and the notion that producers have to increase the budget to reach a wider audience. He said, “Now, the reach of cinema has become limitless. If the content is strong in today’s time, then it can reach any place in the world. The audience doesn’t care whether it is a big-budget film or a small-budget film, all they care about is a connect with a film. When you think that the film should be pan-India and we increase the budget, then at that step itself you are facing a huge loss. I don’t believe in the concept of pan-India films. Producers mislead bhi hote hain – they think a big budget means wider reach which is definitely not true. Now in Kantara, no viewer asked about the budget of the film. They felt a connect with the film, liked the story and watched it. Word-of-mouth is the most inexpensive form of marketing and it contributed to the success of Kantara. Any film can perform well if the audience can connect with the content. I decide the budget of my films on the basis of what the film needs.”

When asked how he selects the subjects for his films, Rishab said, “I don’t think much about the subject of the film. I even read very less. I was a below-average student in a Kannada medium school and you all are asking me to speak in English so I was wondering if should I speak in English or not? Main sota (sleep) bhi Kannada mein hoon aur khata bhi Kannada mein hoon. Main sab Kannada mein karta hoon. To choose the subject of my film, I observe what is happening in society and around us, what is the political scenario, and what are the discussions going around, and then I take inspiration from that. Yeh sab zyada sochta hoon main aur society se kuch lekar film mein dikhane ki koshish karta hoon.”

When asked if he believes in rituals that are shown in Kantara? He said, “I belong to a family that believes in those rituals and every year we do these rituals. Hamara mool wohi hai. If I would not have believed in those rituals then the audience would not have believed in those rituals shown in the film.”