Films rooted in Indian folklore and mythology are turning into box office blockbusters

Kantara Chapter 1, which released on October 2, has hit a worldwide box office collection of a whopping INR725 crore, with its Karnataka release alone garnering more than INR185 crore in just two weeks.

- BY S VENKAT NARAYAN OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Kalyani Priyadarshan in Lokah Chapter 1.

It was dubbed in seven languages: Kannada (original), Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali and English. The seven versions were released simultaneously in 7,000 theatres in India, and one thousand cinema halls overseas.

This pan-Indian film, deeply rooted in Karnataka folklore and culture, crafted for audiences across India, had such universal appeal that it resonated with everyone irrespective of age or language. What makes the success of this Kannada film and Kantara (2022) more interesting is the successful blending of myth, spirituality, action, and moral dilemmas to create a genre-bending cinematic experience.

Director and actor Rishab Shetty, who wrote, directed and acted in both films, has shown the world the power of rooted filmmaking and how regional cinema, that focuses on cultural specificity and originality, can strike both box office gold and audience appreciation.

However, Kantara and Kantara: Chapter 1 are not the only South Indian films that revolve around folklore and mythology which have turned blockbusters. We have also seen this theme in SS Rajamouli's Baahubali series (Telugu), Prasanth Varma's Hanu-Man (Telugu), Ashwin Kumar's Mahavatar Narsimha (Kannada, animated), Dominic Arun's Lokah Chapter 1 (Malayalam) and Vishnu Manchu's Kannappa (Telugu).

The success of nearly all these films tells us how stories rooted in folklore and mythology continue to drive south cinema and how more south Indian filmmakers want to bring alive these tales on a larger canvas with extraordinary visuals and compelling narratives.