Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Lush green forests, fantastical Gods, mythical demons, corrupt kings, and a hero with a heart of gold, ‘Kantara A Legend: Chapter 1’ offers everything the 2022 ‘Kantara’ delivered. If you really must compare the two films, director-actor Rishab Shetty has leveled up with this folklore-fantasy prequel.
Also Read: Kantara (2022) Review: Plenty High Jinks, Less Lore
Set during the Kadamba Dynasty, ‘Kantara: A Legend: Chapter 1’ follows Berme (Rishab Shetty), the unofficial leader of a forest tribe renowned for its sacred spice garden, as he becomes entangled in a conflict between his forest-dwelling community and a power-hungry royal family. A flashback reveals that the King of Bagra was slain by the forest deities after attempting to seize the garden, prompting his son Rajashekara (Jayaram) to forbid anyone from entering the forest again.
Years later, Rajashekara’s heir Kulashekara (Gulshan Devaiah), a debauched drunk, breaks the sacred rule after taking the throne, eyeing the famed garden. As Berme and his friends begin trading at the Bagra port, he grows close to Kulashekara’s ambitious sister Kanakavathi (Rukmini Vasanth), setting the stage for a fierce “tribals versus royals” conflict. Thankfully the romance between Berme and Kanakavathi is minimal, a welcome choice for those craving more of Kantara’s rich folklore, intense battles, and mythic drama.
The biggest strength of the film lies in its visual appeal. From the dense, breathtaking landscapes of the Kantara forest to the impressive visual effects behind the Panjurli and Guliga daivas, this is how grand Indian fantasies should look: rich in color and bathed in golden hues. The only time the visual effect fails to impress is in a crucial climactic scene, where a poorly animated demon scuttles the viewer’s immersion in the tale.
Rishab Shetty carries most of Kantara on his shoulders as the tribal hero Berme, and he’s absolutely magnetic during the trance scenes when he’s possessed by the Daivas. That said, his portions could’ve been tighter to let the others leave a mark too. Both Gulshan Devaiah’s wicked Kulashekara and Rukmini Vasanth’s Kanakavathi deserved a few more minutes, not just to flesh out their contrasting personalities better, but to make their parts in the final clashes hit harder.
The pace begins to drag in the last half hour, and Kantara definitely needed to be a 20 minutes shorter (if not more), instead of its nearly three hour long runtime. The ending features an exciting scene that brims with the possibility of a surprise cameo, making you expect someone exciting to show up, but nothing comes of it. Rishab Shetty takes the moment for himself, refusing to let someone else steal the scene.
The film features vibrant song and dance sequences that flow naturally within its temple rituals and tradition-rooted storytelling. The musical score is rich in Indian instruments, elevating the mood with a majestic, festive pulse. The second half features a long celebratory song-and-dance around the temple’s founding. My movie partner leaned over to say it felt unnecessary, but I disagreed, such joyous rituals are exactly how Indians would celebrate the moment in real life. The only thing that felt a bit out of place was Kanakavathi dancing in public, which seems improbable for a royal princess of her time.
At its core, ‘Kantara: A Legend: Chapter 1’ explores greed, power, and the struggle between tribal harmony and royal domination. Berme’s people live simply and contentedly within the forest, while Bagra’s streets suffer under poverty and injustice. When royal ambition crosses boundaries, bleeding innocents, the Gods step in to restore balance.
If you enjoyed the 2022 Kantara, you should definitely check this out.
Rating: 7 on 10. Kantara A Legend: Chapter 1 will be on Prime Video on October 30.
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