'Kantara' DOP Arvind Kashyap Says Technicians 'Have Equity' on Kannada Films: 'All Of Us Are Partners'
Cinematographer Arvind Kashyap on how Kannada technicians build films by owning them.
When cinematographer Arvind Kashyap talks about the working culture in the Kannada film industry, he points to something quietly radical. “All of us have equity in the movie,” he says.
Unlike larger industries driven by big studios or corporate-backed producers, many Kannada films are built from the ground up by the people who make them. “The core technicians, we form our own production house. It is a very common thing to do there,” Kashyap explains.
The model is relatively simple. With fewer established studios and limited formal infrastructure, technicians often band together. “In most of the films, a bunch of people who are aligned together form a small production house. All of us are partners in the production house,” he says.
Investment is shared and so is responsibility. Kashyap describes it as a system where everyone has skin in the game. “We put in some money and we get some money from a bigger production house,” he says. Once the partnership is set, the film gets made collaboratively. “We partner with them and we make movies.”
This approach means technicians are not just hired hands but stakeholders. Their labour is tied directly to the outcome of the film, financially and creatively. It creates a sense of ownership that, for Kashyap, shifts how work is valued.
Kashyap admits the broader debate around technician rights and equity that dominates other industries “is not so big there yet.” Part of that is because the culture already embeds technicians in decision-making spaces. When they collectively own the film, the question of whether they have a seat at the table looks different.
Kashyap is best known for lensing one of Kannada cinema’s biggest commercial successes — Kantara: A Legend - Chapter 1 (2025). He is also known for Kantara (2022) and 777 Charlie (2022). The films not only amplified his presence as a cinematographer but also marked him as one of the key visual voices shaping the industry.