#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit

#PicksAndPiques #JohnsonThomas #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit Film: #Kantara Cast: #RishabShetty #Kishore #AchyuthKumar #SapthamiGowda #PramodShetty Director: #RishabShetty #HombaleFilms #ViayKirgandur #SpicePR Rating: * * ½

The film in the news for its remarkable Box-office run, #Kantara is a typically regressive south offering showcasing molestation as a pathway to love/romance in addition to many other old-fashioned, long disposed formulaic tropes – including a shrieky mother who looks as young(or old) as the portly hero. The natural tribal rights versus forest laws confrontation is rather underdeveloped and the main plot serves merely as a vehicle to venerate yet another God from the Hindu pantheon. The prologue about an unhappy King temporarily renouncing his throne in search of happiness is an obvious lift from ancient texts. The rowdy hero who later on gains redemption is not an arc that is validated by a believable storyline. This is a rather crudely crafted film that is jumbled up with a slew of half-baked subplots and nowhere to go. Bhootha Kola, a traditional dance for the deity and the hero racing buffaloes, are part of the attractions here. The climax is filmed in a rousing manner and the background score and chant-happy music provides the gravitational energy that is possibly drawing the crowds in.