Kantara is a celebration of toxic masculinity and parochialism: Tumbbad maker Anand Gandhi

In the time since Rishab Shetty’s Kantara came out and became an overnight sensation, there have been the odd voices saying that audiences who did not appreciate Tumbbad were lapping up the Kannada film. Tumbbad, they reckoned, was a far superior film. Netizens had likened it to a rare gem on par with Holywood.

After Kantara’s OTT release on Amazon Prime Video, the debate surrounding the quality of the film and if it deserved the praise it was getting has surfaced again. Amid all this, Tumbbad maker Anand Gandhi also decided to give his two cents on the matter. “Kantara is nothing like Tumbbad. My idea behind Tumbbad was to use the horror as an allegory of toxic masculinity and parochialism. Kantara is a celebration of these,” he wrote.

Anand’s tweet was met with a lot of support. Responses ranged from, “Tumbbad is one of the finest movies of the last few decades. It is sad it didn’t get the accolades and the level of fame it truly deserves,” to “I am surprised people are comparing Tumbad and Kantara. There is absolutely no comparison. Benchmark of Tumbad is very high,” “Kantara was a mediocre 7/10 hyped by the kannada gang while Tumbadd was a heart-clinching masterpiece,” and “Tumbbad was brilliant & a class apart. Better then Hollywood films. Leave alone Bollywood,” among others.

In response to the debate brewing online, one user wrote, “TUMBAAD is way way way superior. Kantara is so overhyped and overrated! And please don’t come at me with “Cultural” influence. Judge the film on it’s merit. Kantara was “okay” and definitely NOT A MASTERPIECE, unlike Tumbaad.” Another added, “Tumbbad > Kantara. If judging on continuity in story telling, Kantara skips important details between scenes, doesn’t seamlessly flow. Tumbbad makes no such mistakes. Visuals however are at par. Loud background music is probably need of the story, subjective to like it or not.”