‘I’m not a divine entity, just an actor,’ says ‘Kantara’s Rishab Shetty

Hombale Films is one of the biggest production houses of the country who created a stir with the release of Kantara in 2022. While the film presented an amazing story of Panjurli Daiva, it featured Rishab Shetty in a shockingly impressive avatar. The film showcased Rishab’s phenomenal acting, making people actually see him as a Daiva. Moreover, the actor played the divine role with utmost devotion. While this led people to consider Rishab as a Daiva, he remains humble about the recognition.

In a recent interaction Rishab threw light on the audience reaction he gets when he steps out, due to his role of Daiva he played in Kantara. He said, “I really don’t know how to react to all this. It’s been close to two years since Kantara was released. At events, so many people come and fall at my feet and treat me with so much reverence. I feel at a loss for words when such things happen.I’m not some divine entity: I am just an actor. What you saw in Kantara, was the character I played. That person is not me. I owe it to the daivas and people for showering me with love. But treat me like an artiste. Let the reverence be for the gods!”

Moreover, the actor also gave insight about the progress of ‘Kantara: Chapter 1’ and said, “A team of 600 people have been working non-stop for four months in my hometown in Keradi to put up sets for Kantara Chapter 1. I’ve not had a single moment to rest, but no complaints!”

He further said, “Considering the kind of expectations audiences have from Kantara Chapter 1, we decided that they must have a fully loaded visual treat. So in portions that VFX is required, we wanted to enlist the best, so the studio that worked on films like Lion King and The Chronicles of Narnia are on board and the work has been split up and going on briskly across the world including the US, UK and Bengaluru.”

With the phenomenal success of Kantara, Hombale Films took India to the world with a story that came from the heartlands of Karnataka. Meanwhile, Hombale Films has an exciting lineup of films in the pipeline, which includes Kantara 2 and Salaar Part 2: Shouryanga Parvam.