Kantara to become the first Kannada movie to be screened in Ho Chi Minh City

Kantara, which has created an unprecedented buzz at the box office, will set a new record on November 1, when it becomes the first Kannada film to be ever screened in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

The community's initiative to commemorate the state's formation day on November 1 in the Vietnamese capital has made this possible. The creation of the state of Mysore took place on this day in 1956. In 1973, it was renamed Karnataka.

The screening will take place at the prestigious Institut d'Echanges Culturels avec la France in Ho Chi Minh City.

The Kannadiga diaspora also congratulated the entire team of Kantara for making a movie that captures the true essence of the traditions and beliefs of the State.

Dignitaries from the Indian Business Chamber in Vietnam (INCHAM) will also be invited for the screening and so will the consulate officials.

The idea behind the screening is to promote the language and culture of Karnataka.

The response to Kantara was so positive that it already surpassed films like KGF: Chapter 2 and RRR as the highest-rated Indian movie on the website IMDb before the dubbed versions of the movie in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam were even released.

According to actor, writer, and director Rishab Shetty, “the more rooted a narrative is, the more global it may become”. This is why movies like his most recent smash hit mystical-mystery Kantara still succeed with viewers, who may not be aware of its cultural and regional roots.

People frequently ponder why films from southern states generate strong box office results. The fact that southern states have more screens than other regions of the country is one of the causes of this. Tamil Nadu has more than 1,000 screens, compared to more than 1,700 in Telugu-speaking Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Kerala comes in second with just under 600 screens, followed by Karnataka with over 800 screens.

With his film now finding an audience all over the country, Rishab Shetty reacts to the term ‘pan-India’:

“I believe this phrase has been overused. I don't think it exists. Cinema is cinema, and all kinds of stories, no matter how specific or regional, are being embraced because of the evolving preferences and viewpoints of our audiences. Language no longer serves as a barrier to viewing Indian cinema as a whole. Kantara is an Indian movie; it is not a Kannada movie.”

On October 15, the Kannada version of Kantara joined the Rs 100 crore club. It is currently approaching the Rs 200 crore threshold and is anticipated to reach a new record during the Diwali holidays.