One of the most-awaited films of the year, ‘Kantara Chapter 1’, released in cinemas on October 2, 2025. The film has already smashed box office records. While many viewers praised the direction and writing of Rishab Shetty, fans have also hailed Rukmini Vasanth’s performance.Rukmini plays Kanakavathi in the film, a character who goes through a big transformation in the second half. In a conversation with IANS, she spoke about the challenges and excitement of playing a 4th-century warrior princess on screen.
Rukmini Vasanth recalls her preparation
Rukmini Vasanth said playing a 4th-century princess was very different from her earlier roles. She explained, “To begin with, there were obviously a lot of vibrations. I think it starts right down from your body language. Body language is something that you do to prepare for any kind of role, whether you are playing a princess or whether you are playing a college student in the 2000s or whether you are playing a princess from the 4th century. Body language is an integral part because it makes or breaks the way that you present on screen.”
Rukmini Vasanth did workshops for her character
Vasanth further added, “I think I did four or five days of a workshop with the writers of the film before we started shooting just in order to sort of crack the princess’s essence, which was fun. So, we sort of worked a lot on how you hold yourself, on how you walk, and on how you look at people. So, that was all in terms of the body language of it. And then, other than that, we had horse-riding lessons, which was great fun.”
Rukmini Vasanth reveals taking sword-fighting lessons
Rukmini Vasanth also explained the other physical preparations. She recalled, “We also had sword-fighting lessons just to sort of crack that body language, a more active body language as opposed to just walking or standing in some place. And then there’s all the bare minimum, like the emotional prep of a scene.”She added, “Emotional preparations for the dialogues, for the context that that character is in. So, it was really multifaceted, including dancing and everything else.”
Rukmini Vasanth learned multiple skills for the role
Rukmini Vasanth expressed that all the experiences were what an actor always dreams of. “Horse-riding, sword fighting, body language lessons, dancing based on traditions from that era, etc. – all of it was a great deal! There were even more skills that I had to acquire in order to play this role.”Vasanth further explained, “That’s the dream, you know! I mean, you want to kind of have this opportunity to explore all these different things, and I am so grateful!”
‘Kantara Chapter 1’ crosses Rs 100 crore mark
‘Kantara Chapter 1’, the prequel to the 2022 hit ‘Kantara’, is directed by Rishab Shetty. As reported by Sacnilk, the film has already crossed the Rs 100 crore mark in India across all languages. Go to Source
