Kantara - A Legend: Chapter 1

2025 2h 45m KN

👍

7.2

SOLID

★7.2TMDB · 102

ActionDramaFantasy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

During the Kadamba reign, King Vijayendra, the ruler of the fictional feudatory land of Bangra, meets his final fate while venturing into the mystical forest of Kantara. Witnessing this, his son Rajashekara seals the borders of their realm. Later, Prince Kulashekara reopens them through a brutal massacre. The protagonist, Berme, in search of prosperity, crosses the divide and ignites a conflict of faith, power, and destiny between the Kingdom and Nature.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Rishab Shetty
Berme / Mayakara
Rukmini Vasanth
Princess Kanakavathi
Jayaram
King Rajashekara
Gulshan Devaiah
Prince Kulashekara
Ramitha Shailendra
Rajamatha Rajalakshmi
Pramod Shetty
Bhogendra
Naveen D. Padil
Booba
Rakesh Poojari
Peppe

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Rishab Shetty
Writers: Rishab Shetty, Anirudh Mahesh, Shanil Gowtham
Languages: Kannada
Countries: India

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 165 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 6.5× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released last year.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Kantara Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Rishab Shetty, shot by Arvind Kashyap. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by B. Ajaneesh Loknath. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Suresh Mallaiah shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Rishab Shetty and Rukmini Vasanth and Jayaram carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Rishab Shetty directs. Arvind Kashyap behind the camera. B. Ajaneesh Loknath scores. Suresh Mallaiah cuts. A long sit — settle in. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in India. Dialogue in Kannada.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 165 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
2Made its money back 6.5× over at the box office.
3Released last year.
4Part of the "Kantara Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by Rishab Shetty, shot by Arvind Kashyap. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by B. Ajaneesh Loknath. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Suresh Mallaiah shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Rishab Shetty and Rukmini Vasanth and Jayaram carry the top of the cast.
9IMDB entry: tt26439764 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Arvind Kashyap
Original score: B. Ajaneesh Loknath
Editing: Suresh Mallaiah
Production design: Vinesh Banglan
Sound: Arun S Mani
Stunt coordinator: Todor Lazarov
Runtime: 165 min · 2h 45m
Status: Released
Budget: $14,000,000
Box office: $91,000,000
Return: 650% of budget
Original language: KN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Kantara - A Legend: Chapter 1 (2025)

Part of

Kantara Collection

When greed paves the way for betrayal, scheming and murder, a young tribal reluctantly dons the traditions of his ancestors to seek justice.

Also by

Rishab Shetty

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-10-09
★ 7/10
While a group of youngsters are exploring the forest, they encounter a great well amidst the foliage. Intrigued, they ask one of their guides to regale them all with a story of elemental proportions that takes them back centuries to the very emergence of local deities in the ancient Bangra kingdom. There were two tribes who coexisted, peaceably enough, sharing the fruits of their idyllic wilderness until one strayed onto the territory of the other with tragic results. This led to a reciprocal action that soon had all the hallmarks of a conflict that will involve trading in not just the spices and coffee, but in further facilitating the Portuguese-operated slave trade supported by the violent and cowardly king “Kulshekar” (Gulshan Devalah). Despotically, he seizes on an opportunity to invade the jungle garden to destroy their village and enslave the people after their leader “Berme” (Rishab Shetty) takes control of their port and so sets up a battle of epic proportions between not just these two men, but of the powerful daiva who are now empowering both sides with some super-human powers. Given the richness of the mythology and the colourful vigour of the production, this is quite a thrilling story that showcases Shetty as a charismatic action hero with an heart of gold whilst also allowing Devalah to have some fun as the brooding megalomaniac too. Aside from a little politically charged romance with princess “Kanakavathi” (Rukmini Vasanth) it’s all grand scale, end to end, stuff that effortlessly mixes the fantastic and the mythological with loads of pyrotechnics and combat scenarios that intertwine the plentiful CGI into the action scenes to create quite a compelling and entertaining adventure movie. Yes, there are a few songs - and I don’t love those, but it’s almost three hours flew by and I enjoyed it.

Production companies