Set in the 1950s, in Madras, the film revolves around the legendary director Ayya and his strained friendship with Chandran, a movie star he helped establish. When Chandran renames a female-focused film production that was previously called "Shaantha" to suit his own image, "Kaantha," the story takes a different direction.[1]
In late-July 2023, Dulquer Salmaan was announced to join hands with Nila (2016) fame Selvamani Selvaraj in a period film set in the 1950s in Madras.[2] The film was announced to jointly be produced by Rana Daggubati and Dulquer Salmaan under their Spirit Media and Wayfarer Films banners respectively.[3] Apart from Salmaan, the film stars Samuthirakani[4] and Bhagyashri Borse in other prominent roles,[5] while also marking the latter's Tamil debut.[6] The technial team consists of Spanish cinematographer Dani Sanchez-Lopez who earlier worked in Mahanati (2018), editor Llewellyn Anthony Gonsalvez, and music composer Jhanu Chanthar.[7]
The film announcement was made by Rana Daggubati by sharing a first-look poster coinciding with Dulquer Salmaan's birth anniversary in 2023.[10] Coinciding Salmaan's 13-years in the film industry, a character-reveal first-look poster was released.[11] On Valentines Day of 2025, the lead actress, Bhagyashri Borse's poster was released.[12] On 26 April 2025, coinciding Samuthirakani's birthday, a similar character-reveal poster of him, playing the role as Ayya was released.[13] Coinciding Salmaan's birth anniversary in 2025, the teaser was released to garner positive reviews.[14] Through the teaser, Salmaan was revealed to play the role of an actor Chandran in the film.[15]
The film has music composed by Jhanu Chanthar in his continued collaboration with Selvamani Selvaraj.[16] The first single titled "Panimalare" in Tamil[17] and "Pasi Manase" in Telugu was released on 9 August 2025.[18]
Kaantha is scheduled to release in theatres in Tamil, along with the dubbed versions of Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi languages.[19] The release was initially slated on 12 September 2025, but got postponed without announcing a release date.[20] In a joint statement, Dulquer and Rana Daggubati disclosed that the release of Kaantha has been postponed in order to allow Lokah (2025) to continue its successful run.[21]
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