Kantara

In 1847, a king in coastal Karnataka seeks peace and sets out to discover spirituality. He encounters a holy stone in a forest guarded by the demigod Panjurli. He donates a vast portion of his land to the villagers in exchange for taking the stone with him, binding the land's fate to the villagers.

Panjurli communicates through a human-medium and warns that the king's family must keep their word. If they reclaim the land, they will incur the wrath of Guliga, Panjurli's ferocious companion. The warning casts a long shadow over the family's lineage and the land.

A few months after the pact, the king's descendant travels to argue for reclaiming the land. On the steps of the court, he dies mysteriously while en route. The enigmatic death reinforces the ominous warning surrounding the land.

Twenty years later, Murali, a forest officer, is tasked with converting the villagers' land into a forest reserve. His plan pits him against local resistance led by Devendra Suttooru, the king's descendant.

Shiva, a Kambala athlete and the missing performer's son, challenges Murali's plan. He refuses to perform Bhoota Kola due to his father's disappearance, and his cousin Guruva takes his place. He is backed by village landlord Devendra Suttooru.

Murali's team erects a fence along the earmarked forest reserve while Shiva falls in love with his childhood friend Leela. Leela is appointed as a forest guard with backing from Devendra. The romance deepens the stakes of the conflict.

Villagers attempt to stop the fencing, but police and forest guards brutally suppress them. Leela is torn between following orders and supporting Shiva. The rift strains their relationship and ignites the broader struggle over the land.

Murali decides to arrest Shiva and heads to their hideout with Devendra's henchman Sudhakara. En route, a jeep is crushed by a tree trunk being cut, leaving Murali severely injured while Shiva and his friends vanish.

A few days later, Shiva reconciles with Leela and vows to surrender. The group re-emerges only to be captured by the police and forest guards the next morning. The village braces for a confrontation over the land.

Guruva asks Devendra to bail Shiva, but Devendra bribes him to impersonate a Panjurli possession to force land transfer. Guruva refuses, and Devendra kills him to seal his scheme.

Murali uncovers Devendra's ulterior motive to seize the villagers' land. Shiva, misled into believing Murali killed Guruva, eventually realigns with Murali to defend the village against Devendra's plan.

Devendra and his henchmen attack the village, leaving several dead. Shiva slams his head against Panjurli's holy stone, and Guliga possesses him, empowering him to kill Devendra and his men in a climactic confrontation.

A few months after the battle, Shiva marries Leela and they raise a son. He performs Bhoota Kola and is possessed by Panjurli, joining hands with Murali and the villagers in a symbolic gesture before disappearing into the forest, as if meeting his father's spirit.

In a mid-credits scene, Shiva and Leela's son asks Sundara about his father's disappearance. The moment hints at lingering questions and the enduring mystery of the forest's guardianship.