When Rishab Shetty revealed he was shocked to see Kantara’s set, said, “Maine life mein kabhi itna bada set dekha bhi nahi tha..."

When Rishab Shetty revealed he was shocked to see Kantara’s huge set, said, “Maine kabhi itna bada set dekha bhi nahi tha, itna bada budget bhi kabhi nahi...”

Before Kantara became a cultural phenomenon, Rishab Shetty himself was taken aback by the scale of what he was stepping into. Kantara Chapter 1 is now turning heads of the audience but in a throwback conversation from 2022, the actor-filmmaker opened up about how overwhelmed he felt seeing the film’s grand set for the first time.

During an old interview, Rishab recalled his disbelief: “Maine kabhi itna bada set dekha bhi nahi tha, itna bada budget bhi kabhi nahi dekha tha.” For a filmmaker who had built his career on tight budgets and local stories, Kantara’s production size was a whole new world.

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When the interviewer mentioned that the film had gone viral worldwide despite being labeled a “small-budget movie,” Rishab clarified that from his perspective, it actually felt huge. The sprawling forest set, the intricate village recreations, and the large-scale sequences demanded a kind of precision and ambition he had never tackled before.

The irony, of course, is that Kantara, initially considered a mid-budget regional film, ended up rewriting box office history. Its raw storytelling, cultural authenticity, and rooted performances turned it into one of India’s most profitable films of 2022, earning over Rs 400 crore globally.

Also Read: Kantara fame Rishab Shetty reveals he worked as office boy, producer's driver in Mumbai: "Andheri ke road par Vada pav khaya hai maine..."

Rishab added, "Sab kehte hai Kantara itna low budget mein bhi banaya still it became a huge hit but it was a big budget for me. Maine as an assitant director bhi kabhi aisa itna bade set aur film kabhi dekha nahi."

Looking back, that moment of awe Rishab felt on set captures the spirit of Kantara itself: a deeply personal story that unexpectedly grew into something far larger. From a filmmaker astonished by his own production scale to a global storyteller representing the divine and the earthy, Shetty’s journey with Kantara stands as one of the most inspiring cinematic success stories in recent years.