- Director Rishab Shetty cited the conflict between nature and human beings as the theme of the film while adding specifically that the strife between forest officers and the inhabitants in his hometown Keradi, Karnataka, in the 1990s, as the source of inspiration for the film.
- He further added, “It is a film from our land, from our roots, stories that are heard through generations, untapped and deeply rooted to our culture”. Shetty conceived the story in 2021 during the COVID-19 lockdown.
- Elaborating on the title of the film, he said, “Kantara is a mysterious forest and this is a story that happens around the area… The film title has a tagline calling it a dhanta kathe or a legend. I did not want to give the film a straight or direct title. The word is not used often. While it has Sanskrit origins, it is used in Kannada too. It is used in Yakshagana too, where we call a very mysterious forest Kantara”.
- The film had to present three timelines: 1847, 1970s and 1990s. Since many references through books were not available, the makers took the help of the tribes residing in Keradi where it was also filmed.
- Costume designer Pragathi Shetty stated that the makers “travelled the entire village and met the tribal community, who gave details about their dress”. She added, “We had most of the junior artists roped in from Kundapura, and it was a challenge for me to convince them to wear tribal costumes. We also took reference to design the costume for the forest guard, played by Sapthami Gowda. We heard each year, the colour of the uniform would change, and everything, including the badges was customised”. Filming took place in four forest locations in the area which included a set being built reflecting the 1990s.
- Art director Darani Gangeputra said, “A lot of natural sources were used to create the setups”, further adding, “apart from this, we created a school, temple, and a tree house. We had 35 people from Bangalore and 15 people from the Keradi village, who helped us to study the culture”.
- The set involved a village, including rustic homes with cowsheds, coops for hens, courtyards, areca plantations and an authentic Kambala racetrack.
- Shetty learned about the intricacies of Kambala and trained for four months before performing the sequence for the film in early 2022.
- The film was released on 30 September 2022 to positive reviews. It was a big commercial success and emerged as the second highest-grossing Kannada film of all time after K.G.F: Chapter 2, released the same year. It was also 2022’s third highest-grossing film in India.
- The Government of Karnataka, in response to the movie, has initiated a monthly allowance for Buta Kola performers who are above the age of 60.
- It was later speculated that Rishabh Shetty might produce Kantara 2, a prequel to the first part. It was said that in Mangalore, Shetty had sought the permission of the god Panjurli, who gave the consent to make the film with 3 warnings. The release date is unknown.
- It was later speculated that Rishabh Shetty might produce Kantara 2, a prequel to the first part. It was said that in Mangalore, Shetty had sought the permission of the god Panjurli. The release date is unknown.
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