(The article is authored by Alar)

Kantara which packed theatres last year's September and went on to become a thunderous hit, and rocketed Rishab Shetty to stardom across India. The film's brilliant climax on performance of Buta Kola, a ritual dance performed in honour of local deities only stunned with its excellence and made buffs go crazy. Rather than a high gross at the box office, the film was indeed a resounding success. While the film's makers had been dropping hints earlier that they were planning a second part the home banner has finally confirmed the exciting news.

The makers of the film Hombale Films now dropped a exciting deets on Kantara 2 but it will not be a sequel but a prequel. Vijay Kirgandur, founder of Hombale Films reported to leading foreign entertainment media, Deadline, "He plans to start shooting in June, as a portion of the shoot requires the rainy season, and our intention is to give the film a pan-India release in April or May next year."

The prequel is based on the prequel story of Panchuruli Daiva in Kantara. Vijay Kiragandur said, "Rishabh Shetty has already started writing the film and he has gone to the forests of coastal Karnataka for research purposes along with his writing assistants. Because one phase of the shoot has to be done during the rainy season. We are thinking of a pan India release in April or May 2024,"

He also added that the budget for Kantara 2 has been increased but the movie style, narration and cinematography will be similar to Kantara to keep the continuity and genuineness in the film. More cast members will be added and they may be big names, which is what is expected Kantara, which was released in September 2022, in the Kannada language, became a pan-India hit which led to it being dubbed in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam.

Kantara follows the lives of a close-knit group of people in the sleepy South Karnataka village of Kaadubettu. The plot of this 1990s-set drama revolves around a forest officer who wants to put a stop to tree cutting so that the area can become a nature preserve. However, the locals pay no attention to the forest officer because they believe the land was given to them by their Daiva, the demigod protector of the forest and its people. The story is an excellent representation of the Karnataka people and their customs that won hearts of many.