Kishore on Kantara row: ‘Think for a moment before falling prey…’

“Think for a moment before falling prey to the brokers of hatred, who have already hijacked the national anthem, flag, logo and poets, who have used and abused crores of freedom fighters including Patel Gandhi Bose Nehru, just for Vote (sic),” he wrote on Instagram.

The statement has come in the wake of the debate whether the rituals and Bhoota tradition shown in Kantara are part of Hindu culture or predate religion.

Certain sections have claimed that the Bhoota tradition is part of Dakshina Kannada region and it is cultural appropriation to call them Hindu culture. On the other hand, Hindu outfits are declaring that the rituals are very much part of their religion.

In the post, captioned ‘Kantara and Dharma’, Kishore asked everyone not to politicise the film and use it to divide people along the lines of caste and religion. “Like any good movie, Kantara is uniting the people of the country surpassing the borders of caste, religion and language. Through entertainment, people are being made aware of many social issues. By using such a movie to incite superstition and bigotry and divide people, the greatest of successes can become greatest of failures for humanity (sic),” he wrote.

Here’s the full statement:

Earlier, Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan was muddled in a similar controversy about whether Cholas are Tamil kings or Hindu kings. One section claimed that the film was wrongfully portraying Cholas as Hindus when in reality they were Shivaites. Meanwhile, Hindu outfits said Shaivaites are also part of their religion thereby making Cholas Hindus.

Meanwhile, both Kantara and Ponniyin Selvan are continuing their dream run at the box office. Kanatara, directed by and starring Rishab Shetty, turned out to be a sleeper hit with good word-of-mouth. Parallelly, Ponniyin Selvan, the book adaptation of the novel series of the same name, turned out to be an instant hit.