RISHAB SHETTY SOUTHERN SON

Fresh off the seismic success of Kantara: The Legend - Chapter 1, the cinematic powerhouse opens up about his journey and meteoric rise.

- BY KARISHMA SHETTY

WHEN THE WORLD was still dancing to “Naatu Naatu” (RRR) in 2022, another regional storm was brewing back home.

Kannada cinema earned not one but two spots in the top 10 highest-grossing Indian films of the year. One was Yash’s KGF: Chapter 2, and the other was Kantara, a cinematic phenomenon that no one saw coming—including GQ’s Men of the Year 2025 honouree, Rishab Shetty himself.

Continuing the box-office momentum, Kantara: A Legend – Chapter 1, a prequel to the 2022 mythological action film, emerged as the highest-earning Indian film of 2025, earning over ₹800 crore worldwide. However, even before Shetty gained nationwide popularity with Kantara, he had already won a National Film Award for Sarkari Hi. Pra. Shaale, Kasaragodu, Koduge: Ramanna Rai. It was a milestone moment, he told me early on in our candid conversation, where we broke the ice over our shared last names.

Raised in Karnataka’s Keradi village, Shetty’s story is one of resilience. His first acting performance was in the sixth grade, in a Yakshagana (a traditional folk theatre form). At 28, he made his feature film debut with Tuglak, and his first tryst with success as a director and writer was with Kirik Party. Yet Shetty’s meteoric rise occurred only when he was nearing 40 as the multihyphenate creative (writer, actor and director) behind Kantara.