'Daivaradhane' links humans with nature: Rishab Shetty on Kantara

Manipal: Writer, actor, and director of the movie “Kantara” Rishab Shetty expressed his thought and inspirations behind the story on Monday. During the live program organized at the Udayavani office in Manipal, Shetty said that he has made an effort to blend cinema with the unique devotional practices ‘Daivaradhane’ practiced in coastal Karnataka without hurting the emotions and sentiments of the devotees.

“There are different forms of worship in other parts of the country, just as in the coastal areas. These devotional practices, including Daivaradhane, strive to maintain a balance in society and also stand as a link between nature and human beings. We have made Kantara with due respect to the traditions so as to not hurt the sentiments,” Rishab said.

Further, Shetty said that the film should be seen with a holistic view of Indian culture. “Purely local cultural nuances can be conveyed to the people in a clear and meaningful way in the Kannada language. It is also getting appreciation all over the world.”

But, due to the immense demand from the public, the film will be dubbed in other languages in the coming days, he added.

“After the shooting of a sequence of ‘Kantara’, I went to Panjurli Daiva’s Kola with the film’s team. I told the deity that I was doing this film. I had asked for his blessing, for the ‘karnika’ of the deity, and asked for his grace,” he said.

He further had a request for the audience. “Don’t shoot videos while watching a movie in cinema halls and share it on social media. It is not right to shoot like this,” he said.  He also appealed to people not to share dance videos of the scenes from the movie, especially the climax. “It is a devotional practice that has very sentimental value to a lot of people. I humbly request the audience to respect it,” he said.

Actor Pramod and actress Saptami Gowda also shared their experiences. Fellow artists were present. Mr. Vinod Kumar, MD & CEO of MMNL felicitated the team.