Kapata Nataka Sutradhari trailer: Much ado about a Muslim man stuck under an idol in a historical Hindu temple
Kapata Nataka Sutradhari trailer: Debutant filmmaker-actor Dhiraj MV’s political satire is set to release in theatres on July 4, 2025
Last Updated: 08.28 PM, Jun 19, 2025
It’s a temple where miracles happen, and if a devotee prays hard enough and crawls under the stone idol of an elephant, whatever he/she wished for will come true. That is the belief at a historical temple that is at the centre of the tale of debutant director-actor Dhiraj MV’s political satire, Kapata Nataka Suthradari. When a rather chubby ‘devotee’ partakes in this ritual and gets stuck under the idol, despite the best efforts of everyone around, he doesn’t budge an inch. If that isn’t bad enough, what’s worse is that it then emerges that this ‘devotee’ is a Muslim man called Mohammed Ismail.
The news, of course, spreads like wildfire and, naturally, divides people; should the idol be saved or is Ismail’s life more important? That’s the question Dhiraj addresses, the answer to which will be revealed when the film releases in theatres on July 4, 2025. Dhiraj had earlier planned to bring his film to theatres on June 19, but delays in the censor certification and some minor post-production work forced him to push it ahead by a couple of weeks.
Watch the trailer here:
Written by Dhiraj, Kapata Nataka Sutradhari also stars Abhirama Arjuna, Murali Shankar Shastry, Varun Gururaj, Uday Achar, Sughosh Ram, Yogesh Shankar Narayan, Greeshma Sridhar, Harshit Gowda, Shivakumar Sajjanar, among others. Dhiraj, interestingly, took on the role when he could not find an actor willing to undergo a physical transformation and pile on the pounds required for the film. The debutant put on over 45kg, as he was not convinced that a body suit would do the job.
Kapata Nataka Sutradhari was shot in a single, 55-day schedule at a real location, with the idol of the elephant being an integral part of the temple they filmed at. Dhiraj describes his character as offbeat, and that the particulars of the role and the physicality needed being the reason he wasn’t able to get a mainstream actor on board.