Kantara 2: Rishab Shetty, Hombale Films set to take prequel on floors in August?

Here's one update that we all have been waiting for and it concerns Kantara 2. Rishab Shetty, who famously delivered one of the biggest box successes of all time in Kantara, has been toiling away behind the scenes for quite some time to develop the much-awaited prequel. He has also ensured throughout that the development remains under wraps, leaving everyone around guessing when the project would go on floors after all.

Well, it seems that the mystery is (almost) solved as the latest buzz informs us that Kantara 2 will be ready to take off in the last week of August 2023. Rishab, who began working on the script in March 2023 (on the occasion of Ugadi), is said to have completed a draft and is well on course to take the film on floors on August 27. 

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Back in January 2023, Hombale Films' Vijay Kiragandur revealed that Rishab Shetty and his writing associates had visited the forests of coastal Karnataka to conduct research. The film will be extensively shot in the heart of the region and with a portion of the shoot reportedly requiring the rainy season, the months of August and September seem ideal for the take-off. 

In the same interview (with Deadline), Kiragandur revealed that Kantara 2 is likely to release in April or May of 2024 with a 'pan-India' status.

Kantara 2 will serve as a prelude or prequel to the 2022 film with the new narrative focusing on the 'backstory of the deity' that is of huge significance to the village that the film is set in. The troubled king, who appears in the initial portions of Kantara, too, will be a feature of the prequel along with the nature and the landscape of the region. 

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Although Rishab Shetty has refrained from discussing the cast of Kantara 2, it would seem that he will be joined by a new set of actors to take on new characters. Rishab, aside from writing and directing the film, will also be starring as the main lead.

Kantara, best described as the biggest sleeper success of the modern era, was made at a budget of Rs. 15-20 crores and earned over Rs. 400 crores at the box office. Kantara 2, on the other hand, will go on floors as a bona fide mega venture whose budget would be far higher than the first instalment.