Exploring Bhoota Kola and the Themes of Tribal Jurisprudence, Retribution and Justice through Divine Intervention in Kantara

In 2022, Rishab Shetty’s directed Kantara’s Part I got released which proved to be more than a cinematic show for profoundly displaying the themes of indigenous spirituality, sacred tribal ecology, highlighting the tradition of Bhoota Kola as theatre of law and retribution and justice through divine intervention. This year (2025), Part II of the same movie got released and received worldwide acknowledgement for making an interesting attempt to bridge tribal customary practices with juridical perspective in tribal ecology portraying the folk tradition of Bhoota Kola which is largely practiced in coastal Karnataka. It is a form of spirit worship practiced among the Tulu-speaking communities with themes of land rights, divine justice and tribal jurisprudence. This paper aims to explore how Kantara represents the amalgamation of state law and tribal moral order, situating retribution, folk tradition and tribal jurisprudence. It examines stress points between modern state law and justice manifestations not through legal code but through cosmological reciprocity and divine custodianship, highlighting India’s plural legal landscape and engaging constitutional instruments like the Fifth Schedule, PESA Act (1996) and Forest Rights Act (2006) in this direction.