India’s Hombale Films Reveal Details Of ‘Kantara 2’; Rishab Shetty is scripting Hot Prequel on Kannada Studio’s ambitious slate of $370 million

EXCLUSIVE: Hombale Films from India, the studio behind mega hits Kantara and the KGF Franchise confirmed it Kantar 2 will be a prequel dealing with the folklore background of the first film.

Kantara Star and director Rishab Shetty is currently scripting the highly anticipated feature film set in Kannada, part of an ambitious slate in four South Indian languages ​​announced by the Bangalore-based studio, which recently raised Rs 30 billion (US$ 370) promised. million) dollars) to invest in films and series over the next five years. Shetty will once again star and direct.

“Rishab is now writing the story and traveled with his writers to the coastal forests of Karnataka for two months to research the film,” said Vijay Kiragandur, founder of Hombale Films. meeting.

“He plans to start filming in June as part of the filming will require the rainy season and we aim to release the film in April or May next year across India.”

Released last September Kantara became a huge hit across India, initially popular in its original Kannada language version and then snowballing when versions in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam were also released. The film was produced on a budget of Rs 160 million (US$2 million) and grossed Rs 3.97 billion (US$48.8 million) in India and abroad.

Prime Video has acquired Indian and select international rights to the South Indian language versions of the film, while Netflix owns the English and Hindi versions in some territories.

Deeply rooted in the traditional folklore of coastal Karnataka, Kantara follows the conflict between a group of villagers whose land is protected by a local deity and the Forest Service, who are trying to claim the land for the government. The prequel explores the background of the deity and his agreement with a concerned king to protect the villagers and the nature around them.

Kiragandur said that the budget for the prequel will be significantly larger than the first film: “Kantara was so successful that anything we do next has to be big as the expectations are high. We are going to add some names to the cast, but we want to keep it authentic and similar in style and content to the first film.

Other important titles on Hombale’s upcoming slate include Prashanth Neel’s Telugu Saltstarring Prabhas, releasing across India in September; Dhoomam, a Malayalam film starring Fahadh Faasil and directed by Pawan Kumar; and Tamil language RaghutathaDirected by Suman Kumar (Writer of a hit serial The family man) and with Keerthy Suresh.

Neel also directed Hombale Films KGF: Chapter 1the first Kannada film to become a hit across India upon its release in 2018, and KGF: Chapter 2It was the highest grossing film in India last year and even beat SS Rajamouli’s record RRR.

Chaluve Gowda, director of the Kiragandur and Hombale Films group, also confirmed that Hombale will start producing serials from next year. “We are already in discussion with streaming platforms and are looking for good writers and directors,” says Kiragandur.