Arvind S Kashyap, the DOP of Kantara Chapter 1, shares how the tiger was brought to life on screen in this Rishab Shetty starrer.
Rishab Shetty’s Kantara: Chapter 1 is roaring at the box office, surpassing Rs 675 crore worldwide and claiming its spot as the second-highest grossing Indian film of 2025. Beyond Shetty’s ace direction, the film captivates with raw, grounded performances, Ajaneesh Loknath’s haunting score, and visually stunning frames that have deeply resonated with audiences across the globe.
One of the most striking moments from the film is the tiger or the Huli daiva sequences which left everyone spellbound. Be it the scene where the tiger first meets Berme (Rishab Shetty) with a divine light in its light and passes it to him, or the tiger coming to Berme’s rescue in the sacred spice garden, every frame feels like it’s alive and gives goosebumps.
In a recent interaction with The Hollywood Reporter India, the film’s DOP Arvind S Kashyap spilled the beans about how the tiger came to life on life.
He shared, “In terms of technicality, I shot and treated the tiger like I would any other person. We carried all the imperfections we saw during the shoot to post (production) as well. Usually, when it’s a CGI animal, people try to make it look nice and beautiful. We didn’t want that. We wanted to mimic the lighting of the situation exactly as it was. If a tiger had a scar or a black spot, we retained it. Tigers go all over the forest and usually have mud and grime on their skin. We make sure all that was carried over to the film.”
He continued, “The tiger that you see now is probably the 60th or 7oth version of it. We had lots of corrections. Every shot was worked on more than 20-30 times.”
When asked to elaborate on the corrections, Kashyap added, “Something like the hind leg lifting an inch extra, the right eyebrow moving unnaturally, the left ear needs to twitch at this point, the tiger is not looking in the right direction, and so on. We tried to make it look as real as possible. It was an extremely collaborative effort.”
Kantara Chapter 1 boosts of a stellar star cast including Rishab Shetty, Jayaram, Rukmini Vasanth, and Gulshan Devaiah, supported by a strong ensemble of regional talent
