Into the Garden of God

Kantara: Chapter 1 | Director: Rishab Shetty | Cast: Rishab Shetty, Rukmini Vasanth

  RISHAB SHETTY doesn’t do pretty. This is true whether he is screaming into the void as Guliga’s spirit pos­sesses his character, Berme, or snapping the neck of the main antagonist as Chamundi’s spirit overpowers him. Everyone is venal, even those who are most beauteous. In the prequel to Kantara (2022), Shetty returns as an ancestor of Shiva, determined to protect the garden of God from evil exploiters. As in a series of films from the subaltern point of view, Berme’s adoptive tribe are the heroes who keep the stories alive. Found deep in a well as a baby, Berme (Rishab Shetty) is a natural leader, who must show the Kadambas their place, which is at the outskirts of the garden of God. And when he finally kills the protagonist, it is as Goddess Chamundi, who transforms him into Ardhanarishvara, a form that is half-man and half-woman.

Unlike in the prequel, which restricted itself to the local divine, Kantara: Chapter 1 mixes the tribal with the Hindu pan­theon, cleverly appropriating the former. Women, as always, don’t fare well at Shetty’s hands and the end sets the audience up for another story to emerge from the boundless pit. Kantara continues to be the source of legends, just as the forest contin­ues to give its produce freely without asking questions.