PremiumRishab Shetty's Kantara and Mumbai's iconic theatre Maratha Mandir create history! Here's how
Although the exhibitors were initially reluctant to release a non-Hindi film, the incredible word-of-mouth publicity surrounding Kantara urged him to change the course of tradition a little.
Last Updated: 06.49 PM, Oct 07, 2022
It wouldn't be farfetched to term Kantara the current 'sensation' as the film continues to gain traction at the national level. Following the tremendous success in Karnataka and the neighbouring states, Rishab Shetty's latest film is now paving a way for itself in the Hindi belts and is said to be running to packed houses in multiple centres. And in this vein, we hear that the Kannada film has achieved a new feat by becoming the first-ever south Indian film to release in Mumbai's iconic Maratha Mandir in the original language of its making.
Yes, as revealed by the executive director of Maratha Mandir and Gaiety Galaxy in Mumbai, Mr. Manoj Desai himself, Kantara becomes the first south Indian film in the history of the cinema hall to release without being dubbed in Hindi. Although the exhibitors were initially reluctant to release a non-Hindi film, the incredible word-of-mouth publicity surrounding Kantara urged him to change the course of tradition a little. And much to his delight and surprise, the Rishab Shetty directorial is proving its might and running housefull since the first premiere.
"All the shows today are already full and it was the same yesterday. The film is doing incredibly well and I am going to stick with it for as long as I can. The cinema hall has never played a Kannada film in Kannada before but when I was suggested by experts that I must bring Kantara on board, I went ahead with it immediately. And I am glad I did so because even though we have dedicated only two shows a day for the film, each of them is getting booked out well in advance," said Mr. Manoj Desai in a conversation with a media outlet on October 5.
Interestingly, Kantara is also the first Kannada language film to release in Mumbai's other renowned cinema hall Gaiety Galaxy. Previously, films like K.G.F: Chapter 1, K.G.F: Chapter 2, Vikrant Rona, and other high-profile films have fared well in Mumbai and other similar centres but only as dubbed releases - Kantara, in this vein, has not only set a new precedent for South Indian films but also helped Kannada cinema reach farther heights through the ongoing impact.
Despite being a Kannada film, Kantara is said to be running merrily in many non-Kannada speaking centres such as Chennai and Hyderabad. Thanks to such overwhelming responses that Hombale Films (producers of Kantara) is now keen on dubbing and re-releasing the film in other languages - more updates to follow on the same.