‘Kantara: A Legend Chapter 1’: Near-death experiences, sleep nights... Rishab Shetty on his biggest film yet

Rishab Shetty exuded tense vigor arsenic helium arrived for the first-ever enactment with the media astir Kantara: A Legend Chapter 1 in Bengaluru connected September 22, 2025 (Monday). The formed and unit of the highly anticipated sequel person been tight-lipped astir the project, keeping their three-year travel of filming the prequel a large secret.

“As I reached the city, it felt similar the times erstwhile I archetypal arrived successful Bengaluru much than a decennary ago,” Rishab told reporters. The actor-director was hinting astatine the strangeness of being backmost successful a bustling metropolis aft immersing himself for 3 years successful the satellite of Kantara in Kundapura, a coastal municipality of Karnataka known for its transportation to the magnificent Western Ghats.

For Rishab, the adjacent week volition beryllium a caller experience. The five-film-old manager had ne'er carried the value of his erstwhile film’s occurrence until Kantara in 2022. The film, anterior to its release, was seen arsenic a promising Kannada movie for a creativity-starved Kannada audience. However, the movie rode connected impeccable word-of-mouth publicity to go a pan-Indian blockbuster.

Now, the expectations from the prequel are sky-high, not conscionable from Rishab’s fortress Sandalwood but from the Indian movie fraternity. “I americium relieved,” confessed Rishab astir wrapping up his biggest task yet. The standard of the movie has near him exhausted arsenic well.

“I americium bushed and uncovering it hard to stitchery words to picture this journey. Usually, I americium composed and mentally strong,” said the visibly fatigued actor-director, who precocious wrapped up the hectic post-production of the movie. As helium responded to a bid of questions from the press, Rishab dilatory regained his accustomed calm and humorous self. “I americium idiosyncratic who doesn’t load myself by worrying astir my movie’s result. I americium funny to spot however radical volition respond to my film. That’s my authorities of caput aft each project.”

Rishab ensured helium didn’t uncover overmuch astir the movie’s plot. He often mentioned the immense work of releasing the movie connected October 2 arsenic promised to his shaper Vijay Kiragandur. “In caller times, we worked for 30-40 hours astatine a stretch. We slept for possibly conscionable 1 oregon 2 hours a day. I convey my direction, writing, and DOP teams,” helium said.

In the trailer, Rishab is seen arsenic a fierce warrior who rises against a brutal king to prevention his colony trapped nether tyranny. Kantara: A Legend Chapter 1is apt to delve into the deeper origins of the mythological contented and ancestral struggle depicted successful Kantara, the 2022 sensational blockbuster. The archetypal portion explored the Bhoota Kola accepted signifier of worship practised successful the coastal Karnataka region. The man-nature struggle was different taxable dealt with successful the movie.

Rishab’s aggravated enactment sequences are 1 of the striking features successful the trailer. “No leader from the Kannada movie manufacture has done specified risky stunts,” said the film’s enactment choreographer Arjun Raj. “After trying a unsafe sequence, I would petition him for different changeable arsenic I wouldn’t beryllium afloat satisfied. Any different leader isolated from Rishab sir would person refused to effort again. He was ever up for improvisation,” helium added.

The movie was successful the quality for the incorrect reasons arsenic 3 radical from the film’s unit passed distant successful 2024. While nary decease occurred during the making of the movie, it felt arsenic if the movie was cursed with atrocious luck. “What happened was highly unfortunate. In fact, I faced 4 near-death situations during the shoot,” recollected Rishab, expressing his gratitude to the daiva for helping him implicit this ambitious movie. “We beryllium it to the divine tone for helping america sail done pugnacious times.”

ALSO READ: ‘Kantara: A Legend Chapter 1’ trailer: Rishabh Shetty leads stunning prequel epic

Rishab besides had words of appreciation for cinematographer Arvind Kashyap, whose stunning enactment is 1 of the biggest positives of the trailer for the prequel. “I featured successful a tiny relation successful Lucia (2013), for which Arvind was an adjunct director. He was a drone relation for my directorial debut, Ricky (2016). He was the cinematographer for Bell Bottom (2019), wherever I played the lead. Our relationship goes a agelong way, and helium is simply a astute technician who elevates my ideas.”

For Rishab, it each started with a telephone telephone successful 2020, during which helium told the one-liner of Kantara to shaper Vijay Kiragandur. Looking back, Rishab is grateful for moving with a shaper who gave him escaped rein to make a fashionable franchise. “Now, we are conscionable waiting to amusement our movie to our radical connected October 2. We won’t speech much astir it — it’s for them to spot and springiness the verdict,” said Rishab, who is looking to ace the toughest situation of his vocation yet.