Not Kantara Chapter 1 or Rudraparayag; this Kannada film was meant to be Gulshan Devaiah’s first in Sandalwood

It took Rishab Shetty’s Kantara Chapter 1 to tell Kannada audiences that Gulshan Devaiah, who played the arrogant King Kulashekara, is actually a Bengaluru boy with fluent Kannada language skills. Since this discovery, the Bollywood actor has been speaking extensively to local media and explaining why it took him so long to do a film on home ground, and how he eventually came to collaborate with Rishab.

Gulshan, who’d moved lock stock and barrel to Mumbai a couple of decades ago in the pursuit of a career in Bollywood, was meant to work with Rishab much earlier, when the actor-filmmaker announced a film called Rudraprayag. Veteran actor Anant Nag was meant to have a pivotal role in it, but then the pandemic struck and Rishab could not risk shooting with the former amid restrictions and health concerns. Rudraprayag was shelved before it even took off and Rishab did Kantara instead in 2022, which did not have a part fit for Gulshan. Then, of course, Kantara Chapter 1 happened and the rest is history.

Gulshan Devaiah rejected his first Kannada film offer

Interestingly, though, Rudraprayag was not the first Kannada film that Gulshan was approached for. Speaking on the Masth Maga podcast, Gulshan revealed that sometime in 2011, actor-filmmaker Pawan Kumar had approached him to be the lead actor of his sophomore film, Lucia. “Pawan wanted me to devote a year to the project, as it would involve a physical transformation. I really liked the subject, but that was just when I had begun making baby steps in Hindi films, with projects like Dum Maaro Dum, Shaitan and That Girl in Yellow Boots,” said Gulshan.

Also read: The New Kannada Cinema: A decade of change for Kannada cinema 

He added that back then, leaving his fledgling Bollywood career behind and doing an experimental Kannada cinema was too much of a risk for him. “So I told Pawan that it would be best if he were to do it with another actor, which he did and Lucia went on to become a pioneering film that inspired a whole bunch of filmmakers to do different cinema. I have no regrets that I did not do Lucia , but looking back, sometimes I think about how it could have been my first Kannada film,” adds Gulshan.

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FAQs

Q. Are Kantara and Kantara: Chapter 1 the same?

A. No, they are separate films in the same franchise, both written and directed by Rishab Shetty. Kantara released in 2022, while Kantara: Chapter 1 hit theatres on October 2, 2025. Chapter 1 is the prequel of the original film and explores the origins of daivaradhane in the Tulunadu region.

Q. Where can one watch Kantara Chapter 1?

A. Kantara Chapter 1 hit theatres across the world on October 2, 2025. It is on Amazon Prime Video as of October 31, 2025, in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. The Hindi version will be on the platform on November 27.