Rishab Shetty Clears Air Around Viral Message Asking Viewers To Abstain From Smoking, Alcohol & Meat Before Watching 'Kantara Chapter 1'

Mumbai: After a viral social media post urged viewers planning to watch ‘Kantara Chapter 1’ to abstain from alcohol, smoking and meat, the film’s director and lead actor Rishab Shetty stepped forward to clear the air.

Framed as a self-driven movement called Kantara Sankalpa, the message created a confusion among fans.

However, Rishabh denied any association of the film’s team with the viral post during a press meet in Bengaluru.

The actor-director further clarified that the viral message was unauthorised, and had nothing to do with the film’s promotions.

“Nobody has the right to question one’s eating or personal habits. These are left to individual mindset and personal choice. Somebody uploaded a fake post, and it came to our notice. They’ve since deleted it and apologised,” Rishabh said.

“I was shocked when I got to know about it. I sent it to our group and asked who had done this. What will people think? We have nothing to do with it. When a film is trending or has a strong narrative, some people try to latch on and gain traction for their own agenda. But we don’t focus on that and thankfully, many on social media also called it out for being fake,” he added.

He also urged fans not to react to such fake viral messages without verifying facts.

Rooted in Keralan and coastal Karnataka folklore, ‘Kantara: Chapter’ 1 also features Sapthami Gowda, Achyuth Kumar, Kishore and Gulshan Devaiah in important roles.