‘Kantara: A Legend Chapter 1: Near-death experiences, sleep nights… Rishab Shetty awaits his biggest test

Rishab Shetty exuded nervous energy as he arrived for the first-ever interaction with the media about Kantara: A Legend Chapter 1 in Bengaluru on September 22, 2025 (Monday). The cast and crew of the highly anticipated sequel have been tight-lipped about the project, keeping their three-year journey of filming the prequel a big secret.

“As I reached the city, it felt like the times when I first arrived in Bengaluru more than a decade ago,” Rishab told reporters. The actor-director was hinting at the strangeness of being back in a bustling city after immersing himself for three years in the world of Kantara in Kundapura, a coastal town of Karnataka known for its connection to the magnificent Western Ghats.

For Rishab, the next week will be a new experience. The five-film-old director had never carried the weight of his previous film’s success until Kantara in 2022. The film, prior to its release, was seen as a promising Kannada movie for a creativity-starved Kannada audience. However, the film rode on impeccable word-of-mouth publicity to become a pan-Indian blockbuster.

Now, the expectations from the prequel are sky-high, not just from Rishab’s fortress Sandalwood but from the Indian film fraternity. “I am relieved,” confessed Rishab about wrapping up his biggest project yet. The scale of the film has left him exhausted as well.

“I am tired and finding it difficult to gather words to describe this journey. Usually, I am composed and mentally strong,” said the visibly fatigued actor-director, who recently wrapped up the hectic post-production of the movie. As he responded to a series of questions from the press, Rishab slowly regained his usual calm and humorous self. “I am somebody who doesn’t burden myself by worrying about my movie’s result. I am curious to see how people will respond to my film. That’s my state of mind after every project.”

Rishab Shetty and Rukmini Vasanth in the movie.
| Photo Credit:
Hombale Films/YouTube

Rishab ensured he didn’t reveal much about the movie’s plot. He often mentioned the huge responsibility of releasing the film on October 2 as promised to his producer Vijay Kiragandur. “In recent times, we worked for 30-40 hours at a stretch. We slept for maybe just one or two hours a day. I thank my direction, writing, and DOP teams,” he said.

In the trailer, Rishab is seen as a fierce warrior who rises against a brutal king to save his village trapped under tyranny. Kantara: A Legend Chapter 1is likely to delve into the deeper origins of the mythological tradition and ancestral conflict depicted in Kantara, the 2022 sensational blockbuster. The first part explored the Bhoota Kola traditional form of worship practised in the coastal Karnataka region. The man-nature conflict was another theme dealt with in the movie.

Rishab’s intense action sequences are one of the striking features in the trailer. “No hero from the Kannada film industry has done such risky stunts,” said the film’s action choreographer Arjun Raj. “After trying a dangerous sequence, I would request him for another shot as I wouldn’t be fully satisfied. Any other hero apart from Rishab sir would have refused to try again. He was always up for improvisation,” he added.

The movie was in the news for the wrong reasons as three people from the film’s crew passed away in 2024. While no death occurred during the making of the movie, it felt as if the film was cursed with bad luck. “What happened was extremely unfortunate. In fact, I faced four near-death situations during the shoot,” recollected Rishab, expressing his gratitude to the daiva for helping him complete this ambitious movie. “We owe it to the divine spirit for helping us sail through tough times.”

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Rishab also had words of appreciation for cinematographer Arvind Kashyap, whose stunning work is one of the biggest positives of the trailer for the prequel. “I featured in a small role in Lucia (2013), for which Arvind was an assistant director. He was a drone operator for my directorial debut, Ricky (2016). He was the cinematographer for Bell Bottom (2019), where I played the lead. Our friendship goes a long way, and he is a smart technician who elevates my ideas.”

For Rishab, it all started with a phone call in 2020, during which he told the one-liner of Kantara to producer Vijay Kiragandur. Looking back, Rishab is grateful for working with a producer who gave him free rein to create a popular franchise. “Now, we are just waiting to show our movie to our people on October 2. We won’t talk more about it — it’s for them to see and give the verdict,” said Rishab, who is looking to crack the toughest challenge of his career yet.