Spirit,
Soil, and Society: Cultural Negotiations in Rishab Shetty’s Films Kantara and
Kantara: Chapter 1
Dr
Dinesh Barku Deore
Associate
Professor & Research Supervisor
PG
Department of English and Research Centre
NTVS’s
G. T. Patil Arts, Commerce and Science College
Nandurbar
– 425412, Maharashtra (India)
ORCID ID: 0009-0006-0454-3231
ABSTRACT:
Cinema
serves literature’s objective of reflecting upon society. It fulfils the
purposes of entertainment and didactics. Same with literary works, critics
analyse films through the lens of contemporary theories. This genre raises
awareness of contemporary issues and aims to bring positive change. Many
quality Bollywood films discuss regional issues on a global scale. Rishab
Shetty’s films, Kantara (2022) and Kantara: Chapter 1 (2025), are paragons in
presenting local culture to global audiences. The films minutely explore the
cultural richness of the Tulu Nadu region of Southern Karnataka, India,
focusing on devoutness (spirit), ecology (soil), and community life (society).
The films display the emergence process of the gods Panjurli and Guliga and
focus on the cultural performance of Bhoota Kola. Through myth, folklore, and
appealing visual effects, Shetty’s films present how divine forces and human
lives coexist in the Kantara forest. However, the coexistence is often in
tension. This research paper attempts to underline how these films negotiate
cultural identity and tribal belief. Drawing on a Cultural Studies perspective,
the paper also analyses how indigenous traditions resist modern power
structures, and how cultural identities of the inhabitants evolve within
changing social orders.
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KEY WORDS: Cultural
negotiation, spirit, soil, myths, cinematography.
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INTRODUCTION
Cinema,
interchangeably film, is a genre of literature that serves the purposes of
entertainment and didactics. It has been serving as a mirror to society with
the intention of bringing positive changes. These days, films are reaching out
to a larger audience, and hence, the film directors use film as a medium to
present their ideas. Apart from entertainment, the audience considers films as
a source of knowledge. The genre also helps to communicate local issues at the
global level. Many Bollywood directors presented the Indian culture through
their films and made the global audience aware of the richness of the culture.
In the Indian context, it is the land of diversity. Each state has its own
cultural identity, and the indigenous people try their best to preserve the
regional cultural identity. The Regional
Cinema often becomes the most authentic expression of local cultures. This
specific film genre has played a significant role in disseminating regional
culture to a broader audience. Out of the most celebrated cultural films in
Bollywood, Hombale Productions’ and Rishab Shetty’s films, Kantara (2022)
and Kantara: Chapter 1 (2025), are well-received at the box office. The
films are laden with cultural details that can be analysed extensively through
the lens of Cultural Studies. No doubt, the films stand as powerful cinematic texts
that transcend entertainment to become a cultural statement.
The
film Kantara was released on 30 September 2022 across India and the
world. On the storyline, the film’s story opens in 1847. The unnamed king has
everything except inner peace. He sets out on a journey to find peace, and after
a long journey in the deep forest, the king comes upon a holy stone. He was
completely unaware of the importance of the holy stone for the inhabitants. The
inhabitants worship the stone as their mythical god, called Panjurli. The
god Panjurli is a gana of Vishnudeva, who protects them and the forest
from the evil powers. However, the king finds solace when he is in the company
of the god. The king requests the inhabitants to hand over Panjurli and
offers a vast land in exchange. He takes Panjurli and finds eternal
inner peace for the rest of his life. Later, in the next generations, the
king's grandson, Devendra, a landlord, claims the land. He disregards the
contract between his grandfather, the king, and the inhabitants. He does not
believe in the mythology of finding solace in the company of Panjurli. In
between, the state power also tries to make the land a forest reserve. Here
lies a trio feud- divinity, human greed and state control.
Writer-director-actor Rishabh Shetty is in the role of Shiva, the protagonist,
who fights back against Devendra (representative of human greed) and forest
officer Murli (representative of state power) to protect his ancestral land and
preserve the indigenous culture. Panjurli, as the protector of land and
forest, spiritually possesses in Shiva’s body and makes him a more divine,
powerful and empowered figure. He fights back and protects the land and forest.
The film ends with the cultural performance of Bhoota Kola.
Kantara:
A Legend-Chapter 1, released on 02 October 2025, continues
the depiction of cultural richness. The film opens in the Kadamba dynasty, with
Vijayendra, the king of Bangra state, deciding to control the Kantara forest.
As expected, the divine soul kills Vijayendra. In the Kantara village, a boy, born
of divine will, is found inside the secret well. The boy, Berme (Rishabh
Shetty), later ventures out of the forest and reaches Bangra. He observes the spices
of the Kantara forest, and people are making a trade of it. Actually, the
spices in the Bangra market are offerings from the inhabitants to
Brahmarakshas. Berme decides to trade species on his own. Berme’s defiance
angered Kalushekara (the present ruler of Bangra). With the intention of
devastating Kantara, Kalushekara attacks. A Guliga (Spirit of Mahadeva, appointed
to protect the poor from exploiters) emerges from the secret well in Berme,
possessed, and kills Kalushekara. The feud continues with the family members of
Kalushekara. Rajashekara (father) and Kanakavathi (sister) decide to cheat Berme.
Kanakavathi goes to Kantara forest to apologise for his brother’s mistakes and
also asks him to settle the issue. She requests him to bring Daivas to the
kingdom of Bangara to restore peace. With the help of the Kadapa tribe, they
trap the Daivas and harness the power with black magic. To protect the
inhabitants and daivas, Chavundi (Chamunda), who resides in Berme, kills
Rajashekara and Kanakavathi. The film ends with the cultural performance of Bhoota
Kola.
The
stories of both films are rooted in the indigenous culture, with the intention
to make the global audience aware of the richness of the indigenous culture.
The phrase ‘spirit, soil, and society’ encapsulates the cultural dynamics that
are amplified in the films. These are the symbols in a wider sense and active
cultural agents. The spirit signifies belief and ritual. It approves a
practice of worshipping the departed souls. Both films revolve around the
worship of Panjurli and Guliga. The end of both films asserts the
incarnation of the spirit into the human body and its cultural significance in
the mythology. The soil stands for ecology and belonging. Soil also
refers to the roots of identity. Kantara is everything for the inhabitants.
They live happily in the company of the forest, and they are ready to die to
protect the land. Society summarises power, hierarchy, and collective identity.
This triad- spirit, soil and society- weaves a thread of cultural study. These
Indian cultural dynamics are not new on the canvas of Cultural Studies. This
thread identifies similarities with global concepts within Stuart Hall’s theory
of representation. It is also close to Raymond Williams’s concept of culture as
‘a whole way of life.’ This study further finds connections with Gramsci’s idea
of ‘cultural hegemony.’
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Much
has already been written about Cultural Studies. It can be better understood in
relation to the wider discourses on ecological consciousness, indigenous
spirituality, and hybrid identity. Many scholars across various disciplines have
already examined the complex intersections of cultural dynamics, including spirit,
faith, land, and societal collective beliefs. On the line of cinematic
presentation of native culture, the following is a review of literature.
Homi
K. Bhabha’s The Location of Culture discusses hybridity and cultural
negotiation. According to him, postcolonial identities are formed through the constant
dialogue between tradition and modernity. His idea of the ‘third space’ explains
the construction of hybrid identity. He says, “Consequently, the colonial
presence is always ambivalent, split between its appearance as original and
authoritative and its articulation as repetition and difference” (Bhabha, 1984,
p.117). The statement underlines the process of cultural negotiation. It
further helps to interpret Shetty’s films as stories that constantly negotiate
with modernity and state power to preserve the inhabitants’ nature and culture.
The films also show the process of formation of third space (hybrid
identities).
Vandana
Shiva’s Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development provides another
dimension to this understanding of cultural negotiation. Her ecofeminism resounds
throughout Kantara. The Indigenous approach recognises nature as sacred and
inseparable from human culture. The tribal women prefer to die to preserve the
forest. For Shiva, the ecological segments are living entities as human beings.
“Living cultures are life-enhancing because they are rooted in nature’s
processes” (Shiva, 1988, p.38). The film portrays the tension between treating soil
as a commodity and soil as a soul.
Clifford
Geertz, in The Interpretation of Cultures, discusses how cultural
performance and behavioural patterns are beyond the thin description of just
physical performance. The performances have semiotic meanings. “Believing that
man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun, I take
culture to be those webs, and the analysis of it… is essentially a semiotic
one.” (Geertz, 1973, p.5). This perspective sheds light on the Bhoota Kola performance.
This is an act of performative expressions of divine justice and communal
ethics. His notion of “thick description” enables viewers to understand Shetty’s
films as anthropological and cultural documents that preserve an oral and
ritual tradition.
Stuart
Hall’s Theory of Representation discusses that the representation of
something is not merely about reality; rather, it is a process of constructing
meaning through cultural symbols. Hall argues that meaning is not simply
reflected but constructed through representation. “Things do not have in
themselves any fixed meaning. It is we who construct meaning using
representational systems” (Hall, 1997, p.25). Shetty’s aesthetic choices—such
as the rhythmic drumbeats, folk chants, and various visual symbolism—transform
a local myth into a collective cultural statement. Hall’s framework shows how
cinema becomes a site of reclaiming identity and resisting cultural
homogenization.
Gayatri
Chakravorty Spivak’s essay Can the Subaltern Speak? illustrates how marginalised
voices are silenced by dominant systems of power. In her views, subalterns are
powerless and exploited by the hands of power structures. There is a constant
feud between the powerful and the powerless. The essay further underlines that
the subalterns are always on the periphery, and power structures are at the
centre. “There is no space from which the subaltern can speak” (Spivak, 1988,
p.104). Her ideas are reflected in Kantara. The power structures ignore the
subaltern’s sacred relationship with the forest. Yet, through the divine figure
of the Daiva, the subaltern voice re-emerges in spiritual form, reclaiming
dignity and justice beyond institutional control. It underlines that the presentation
of the divine is not as supernatural fantasy or superstitious but as symbolic
resistance.
A.
K. Ramanujan’s Folktales from India (1991) reveals how the presentation
of oral narratives embodies cultural richness and moral codes. For him, folklore
is a living form of social philosophy that parallels Shetty’s storytelling
approach through Kantara. The films presented oral traditions, where myth and
memory merge to guide to formation of community ethics. Ramanujan’s ideas
remind us that Shetty’s cinema, like folklore, preserves and reinterprets
collective identity.
Ashis
Nandy, in The Intimate Enemy (1983), explores the effects of colonial
modernity on the Indian psyche. The book also reclaims the need to recover
indigenous selfhood. “Colonialism is first of all a matter of consciousness and
needs to be defeated ultimately in the minds of men” (Nandy, 1983, intro.). Nandy
thoroughly discusses the spiritual resistance that simply helps to frame
Kantara as a decolonial narrative. The film’s takeaways— divine righteousness triumphs
over human corruption—echo Nandy’s belief that reclaiming faith and memory is a
political act against alienation.
Ananya
Mukherjee, in Ecospirituality and the Cinematic Landscape in Indian Folk
Narratives (2024), discusses how Indian films increasingly merge ecology
with spirituality. She identifies Kantara as a ‘visual hymn to the earth,’
where the landscape plays double roles of setting and character. Her analysis
positions Shetty’s film as a landmark in eco-spiritual cinema, one that treats
the natural world as a sacred presence rather than a backdrop.
Together,
these works demonstrate that Kantara films exist at the crossroads of myth,
ecology, and social critique. Bhabha and Hall frame its cultural negotiations,
Shiva sets the ground for its ecological consciousness, while Spivak,
Ramanujan, and Nandy expose its moral and philosophical depth. Mukherjee extends
these ideas into contemporary film studies, confirming that Kantara is more
than a regional success. The films are the platforms for negotiating cultural
dynamics to preserve tribal identities and environmental richness.
OBJECTIVES
· To
examine the representation of indigenous spirituality and ritual performance in
Kantara and Kantara Chapter 1.
· To
analyse the ecological symbolism of land and nature, highlighting how ‘soil’
reflects belonging and the human–nature bond.
· To
explore the sociocultural tensions between tradition and modernity, especially
the conflict between tribal communities and state power.
· To
investigate the interconnection between folklore, collective memory, and
community identity.
· To
evaluate the films as cultural negotiations that reclaim indigenous identity
ANALYSIS
1. SPIRIT: FAITH,
RITUAL, AND INDIGENOUS BELIEF
Kantara
and Kantara: Chapter 1 are paragons for the
presentation of indigenous culture. At the heart of the films lies the emergence
of the Daivas: Panjurli and Guliga. It is also about the ritual of
Bhoota Kola (spirit dance). It is a ritual performance of a divine Daiva accompanied
by traditional dance, folk music, and pure devotion. This ritual is practised
among Tuluva communities, and it underlines the presence of the spirit in
everyday life. Around 140 years ago, the British considered the performance as
a devil's worship. “…of one of the Udipi mutts, celebrating the nema (festival)
of a bhutha named Panjurli, in fulfilment of a vow made when his son was ill”
(Thurston, 2007, p.457). The Daiva—the spirit deity—acts as a mediator between
humans and the divine. It is also a way of preserving moral and ecological
balance. In Kantara, Shetty presents the Bhoota Kola not as a mere
spectacle but as a living cultural text.
The
protagonist Shiva’s transformation from rebellion to divine possession reveals
how spiritual power transcends human hierarchies. The final scene of both films,
where Shiva becomes one with the deity, symbolises the merging of man with myth
and body with spirit.
Kantara:
Chapter 1 highlights how the legacy of spiritualism and human-to-spirit
transformation continues within the tribals. Both films end with the Bhoota
Kola, and that signifies the cultural practices of the inhabitants. In the
films, the spirits are presented not only as mythological entities but also as
protectors and living souls. Their incarnation in human bodies also underlines
that they are not separate in terms of form, but select one from the
practitioners to help the inhabitants. “Rishab
Shetty shows this connection with stunning honesty. There’s no unnecessary
drama, just real emotions and traditions. The film captures their dance, songs,
festivals, and the way they face everyday challenges. It reminds us that for
indigenous people, faith is not just religion, it’s their way of life and
survival” (Behera, 2025). Worshipping
the spirits and dance practice are continued in the present day as a matter of
cultural perseverance.
2. SOIL: LAND,
ECOLOGY, AND BELONGING
In
terms of ecological consciousness, soil is not just a geographical element;
rather, it is an active agent in Cultural Studies that creates a sense of
ethnicity and belonging. It is something where someone is rooted historically.
Soil represents ancestry, livelihood, and identity. However, in modern times,
in the name of development, land became a commodity for state powers and human
greed. Inhabitants consider land as their root of identity, whereas the government
wants the acquisition of land for materialistic development. This tension
between exploitation and reverence for the land echoes what Raymond Williams
described as the “structure of feeling” of a community—an organic connection
between people and place that defines culture from within. The land (soil),
full of forest, is everything for the inhabitants. It is much more than just
commodification. “Soil plays roles in learning, inspiration, cultural
identities, and practices, including religious and spiritual experiences, and
can be conceptualised as a bridge linking culture and nature” (McElwee, 2021).
Kantara
depict the tension between locals and the king Rajasekhara, as well as the
forest department of the state. For Devendra, soil is something that can be
owned. It is a piece of property for him. At any cost, he wants his ancestral
land back. He does not accept the existence of the indigenous in the forest. In
his view, he is the owner of the land and the inhabitants made fool to his
grandfather. He uses force to get the land back. On the other hand, the land is
the shelter for the inhabitants. They offered Panjurli in exchange of
the land. Even the forest department of the state has a great interest in the
forest. According to the forest officers, the inhabitants encroach the
government property without paying anything to the government. Hence, the
authorities also use power to control the land. In this tension, for
inhabitants the land is something that offers them identity and roots for their
existence. In short, the film critiques the commodification of land under the
guise of greed and development.
In
Chapter 1¸Vijayendra and Kalushekara are very interested in the spices
available in the Kantara forest. They want to control the forest as a commodity,
source of income and wealth. They reject the living of inhabitants and
simply try to crush the tribe using power. For Berme and his tribe the land is
everything. They live there happily in the company of their daivas and mythical
gods. Shetty’s cinematography reinforces the idea that the forest is not just a
geographical setting for the films, but rather it is a shelter for tribals as
well as for divine spirits. The forest is a major character in the films. The
ecological consciousness of the films aligns with eco-critical perspectives
that view nature as a participant in human history. In terms of divinity, the forest
is a belonging of the spirits. In the films, the land is portrayed as the
original site of the treaty between gods and humans. This sense deepens the
mythic roots of the story.
3. SOCIETY: POWER,
HIERARCHY, AND CULTURAL IDENTITY
In
cultural studies, society is not just a collective habitation of particular
people; rather, it creates a sense of shared identity. Society is the carrier
of culture from one generation to the next. Social gatherings, festivals,
rituals and cultural performances are the active agents of preserving societal culture.
The performances are not just thin descriptions but possess a wider sense of meaning
that helps to understand the structure of the places. State power also plays an
important role in society’s structure. The state has many provisions to control
the common masses. Through forest officials, legal systems, and rationalist
ideologies, the state receives power. The society often reflects the complex
intersections of caste, class hierarchy, and modernity.
In
Kantara, the villagers’ worship the Daiva is both a cultural defence and
a source of empowerment. The Kantara society has its own cultural practices
that create a separate societal identity. It also helps people to live life
with bonding and with the sense of togetherness. Only because of the collective
societal sense, the entire village stands against the king Devendra. They are
ready to die for the preservation of the society. There are various cultural
festivals that are actually provisions to bring the entire society together to
enjoy life. The arrangement of Kambala (Bullock race in muddy field) and fair
are the parts of society’s get together.
The
film also underlines the caste hierarchy. The lower caste tribal people are not
allowed to enter the upper-class landlord’s house. The caste hierarchy
generates power for the upper class and silences the lower class. The generated
power further leads to leadership. “The supremacy of a social group manifests
itself in two ways, as ‘domination’ and as intellectual and moral leadership”
(Gramsci, 1971, p. 57). These power mechanisms find similarities with Gramsci’s
notion of ‘cultural hegemony’. In the film, a lower caste person tries to enter
Rajasekara’s house, the security personnel kicks him out. It underlines the
casteism and clad hierarchy.
In
Chapter 1, the social world is even more stratified, illustrating how
belief systems evolve under pressure. Kalushekara outpours his anger on the
lower caste servants of his family. He throws hot water and spicy food on the
old servant of the family. His upper-class position generates power within him
and he tortures lower class people of his state. He does not deserve to be the king of
Bangarra, but his ancestral root enables him the king. The poor people have no
considerable place within the state. The film illustrates the divine souls as a
form of resistance, where devotion becomes a political act against domination.
It bridges the gap between religion and revolution, showing how culture itself
becomes a site of struggle. According to Gramsci, the dynamics are not neutral
rather than the active agents to construct meanings.
4. CULTURAL
NEGOTIATIONS: TRADITION AND MODERNITY
As
stated earlier, there has been a tension between tradition and modernity. “The
tension between tradition (Bhoot Kola, Village life) and modernity (forest laws
and state authority) shapes Kantara’s psychocultural landscape” (Panicker, 2024
pp.)and However, the cultural meanings are formed through a continuous dialogue
between traditional performances and modernity. Both Kantara films dramatise
the ongoing negotiation between the traditional and the modern. The indigenous
people represent tradition, whereas Devendra is a representative of modernity.
In his eyes, the traditional practices are outdated, and there is no sense of
worshipping a stone (Panjurli) or a dancer (Bhoota Kola). On the other hand,
the Bhoota Kola is a way of cultural negotiations for the inhabitants. Shetty
does not romanticise tradition nor fully embrace modern rationality; instead,
he establishes a dialogue between the two.
The
forest deity (Guliga) represents cultural continuity, while the forest officer
and the land laws embody change. The collision between them generates a hybrid
cultural space where identity must be constantly redefined. Through this
negotiation, Kantara articulates what Homi Bhabha calls ‘cultural
hybridity’—a space where old and new, faith and reason, coexist in tension but
also in creative renewal. “Such a theory of resistance is further extended in
his theorisation of the ‘Third Space of enunciations’ (Shelden, 2012, p.237). The films thus become acts of cultural
preservation, reimagining folklore within contemporary cinematic language.
5. Myth, Memory, and
Cultural Continuity
“Myth
narrates a sacred history; it relates an event that took place in primordial
Time, the fabled time of the ‘beginnings.’ In other words, myth tells how,
through the deeds of Supernatural Beings, a reality came into existence,
whether it be the whole of reality, the cosmos, or only a fragment of
reality—an island, a species of plant, a particular kind of human behavior, an
institution” (Eliade, 1963, p. 5). Myth, in a wider sense, is not a fantasy but
a collective memory. It binds the past to the present. It also helps to
establish a process of cultural negotiation. Myths are generally transformed
through the oral tradition of storytelling. It ensures that even when the
material world changes, the spiritual essence of the community survives.
By
blending myth with modern cinematic realism, Shetty throws light upon the
performances which are alive in myths. He attempts to reclaim indigenous
narratives. The cultural performances are the practices through which the
inhabitants speak out. This approach mirrors what Gayatri Spivak terms the ‘subaltern
voice’. The performances are platforms of reassertion of those historically
silenced within dominant discourse. In Kantara, the subaltern speaks through
ritual, dance, and the divine voice of the Daiva.
6. Ecological and
Cultural Harmony
In
Cultural Studies, ecological balance and cultural harmony are central to
discussion for scholars and critics. There is a need of the hour to establish
harmony between nature and human beings. These days, human beings consider themselves
the owners of the Earth and treat ecological properties as only commodities. We
have forgotten that we are one of the species available on the surface of the
earth. We have grabbed and extracted the ecological sources to fulfil our
greed. More interestingly, humans have even categorised themselves as civilised
and uncivilised. In this sense, there is a variety of cultures. These days, it
is necessary to alter the established approaches towards nature and culture.
Human beings have to preserve the ecological properties and respect all
cultures.
The
films advocated the ideology that humans and nature exist in reciprocal
harmony. The deity’s anger in Kantara is not supernatural vengeance but an
ecological warning. When the balance between man and nature is broken—through
greed, violence, or exploitation—the divine intervenes to restore order. This
theme resonates with contemporary ecological philosophy and indigenous
environmental ethics, which emphasise that the land is not owned but inherited.
In representing the forest as sacred, Shetty fuses cultural spirituality with ecological
consciousness. This cinematographic attempt to preserve the harmony between man
and nature makes the films a strong source to study ecology.
Observations and
Findings
· Both
Kantara films beautifully fuse myth and reality, showing that in indigenous
life, the spiritual and the material entities are deeply connected. The stories
suggest that faith, nature, and human experience are all part of the same
existence.
· The
entity of soil in the films goes beyond being just a geographical element. It
represents roots, heredity and a sense of belonging. The land is treated as
sacred, holding the identity of the people who live on it. It also enforces the
approach that humans and nature are inseparable.
· The
Bhoota Kola ritual becomes a powerful symbol of resistance. It is not only a
spiritual celebration but also a way for the community to protect its
traditions, beliefs, and dignity from outside control and exploitation.
· The
films bring out the tension between the old and the new—between indigenous
customs and modern systems of power. Through this conflict, Shetty shows how modernisation,
in the name of development, threatens to erase the values and harmony that
tribal societies live by.
· Rishab
Shetty’s use of natural landscapes, folk music, traditional costumes, and
rituals makes the films feel alive and authentic. These elements connect the
audience to the soil, spirit and ecology that creates a strong sense of
cultural belonging.
· The
films reinforce the reality of social and economic inequalities. They reveal
how the powerful exploit the poor, especially those who depend on the land for
their survival, and call for justice and empathy.
· Both
films follow a cyclical pattern where nature and divine forces step in whenever
human greed disrupts balance. This reflects the indigenous belief that harmony
is always restored through spiritual and natural order.
· In
the end, Kantara and Kantara: Chapter 1 go beyond
entertainment—they revive the forgotten voices of indigenous culture and bring
local traditions to the global stage, celebrating the deep bond between spirit,
soil, and society.
CONCLUSION
Rishab
Shetty’s Kantara and Kantara: Chapter 1 stand as profound
cinematic meditations on culture, faith, and identity. By weaving together, the
spiritual (spirit), the ecological (soil), and the social (society) elements,
these films reveal the deep interdependence of belief, belonging, and being. Viewed
through a Cultural Studies lens, the Kantara series is not just a story
of a village or a deity—it is the story of India’s ongoing cultural negotiation
between its ancient soul and its modern ambitions. The films celebrate
indigenous wisdom while critiquing structures that seek to erase it. In doing
so, Kantara becomes a cinematic ritual in itself: a reminder that the spirit, soil
and society are inseparable. Nature highly affects locals’ lifestyle. There is
harmony between both. However, the advancement of modernity crushes the
harmony. Both films celebrate indigenous culture and, at the same time,
strongly recommend the protection of nature's beauty and cultural preservation.
Pin pointedly, the main focus of the films is to show the emergence of Panjurli,
Guliga and the cultural performance of Bhoota Kola (Spirit dance), which is
widely practised in the southern part of Karnataka, in India. It is an attempt
to popularise the local culture. The films presented a formation of identity
through a complex dialogue process between tradition and modernity. Hence,
undoubtedly, the films are masterpieces in Hollywood for cultural
representation.
DISCLAIMER
(ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE):
The
author has hereby declared that NO generative AI technologies, such as Large
Language Models (ChatGPT, COPILOT, etc.) and text-to-image generators, have
been used during the writing or editing of this manuscript.
COMPETING
INTERESTS:
The author has
declared that no competing interests exist.
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