‘Kantara’ captures the world of Bhoota Kola that is intrinsic to Dakshina Kannada
The HinduPublished : Nov 17, 2022 10:40 IST Kantara burst into the consciousness of filmgoers in the past few weeks much like its Bhoota Kola protagonist: a quiet beginning shattered by an unexpectedly loud roar. The film captures the world of Bhoota Kola that is intrinsic to Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada, located picturesquely between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea. “Kantara places front and centre a seemingly marginal culture restricted to a small geographical region.” In these narrations, a deity’s relationship to a territory and its people is very specific. For many people in these regions, rituals such as Bhoota Kola remain an anchor, returning them periodically to a sure and familiar world, despite everyday changes and uncertainties. Today’s Hinduism is a sum of innumerable local practices and rituals such as Bhoota Kola or theyyam, and modern Hindu life is a strange amalgam of such varied practices that emerged due to ethnic and political compulsions.