Chitti Babu and Shiva - Underdog heroes destined to save their folk

 

Kantara and Rangasthalam are set in a period that was untouched by modern communication technologies.

They both represent land issues, landlessness drives both the narratives. A feudal landlord in both stories tries to occupy the land of downtrodden communities whose bread and butter comes from the land itself.

The power dynamic between the downtrodden community and the landlord has the roots in caste. We can see both the antagonists being uppercaste landlords. They practice untouchability, discriminate on the basis of caste. They appear to be saviours of these vulnerable people but in turn they actually are the oppressors.

The hero who is a physically strong, adamant, uneducated, happy go lucky guy is similarity in both the stories. They are deeply connected to their mother land and family. They never hesitate to curtail any injustice happening to his community/family in their presence. Shiva slapping the goon of Varma when his friend was slapped for stepping into the house of Varma, chitti babu in rangasthalam sabotaging the steel glass when asked to clean it after drinking can be seen as obvious similarity in their social status and how heroes try to topple it.

However the mode of power the villagers in rangasthalam sought was political, chitti babu's brother running for presidency and Anasuya becoming the president are symbols of it. However in kantara, villagers seek power from the deity. It's kind of opposite in rangasthalam where jagapathi babu who performs rituals, and villagers believe that his divine nature makes him the ideal candidate for presidency. In this way, villagers in kantara derive power over the land from the rituals and divine code whereas in rangasthalam there is a community action towards consolidating political power even against the ritualistic figure Jagapathi babu.

We can draw parallels between the main Characters Chitti Babu and Shiva and Kumar Babu and Guru. But the bond between Kumar Babu and Chitti Babu was the most precious part of Rangasthalam whereas, in Kantara, Shiva - Guru connection was like a delicate surprise.

But the initial and last 15 minutes did wonders for Kantara due to those episodes the movie is enjoying the huge success and appreciation that it truly deserves.