Actor Sapthami Gowda on Kantara, Toxic and what makes a film truly pan-India

Actor Sapthami Gowda spoke about the growing pan-India presence of Kannada films, the industry’s relationship with its audience, and unequal pay at the India Today Karnataka Roundtable. She joined journalist Akshita Nandagopal for a session titled #SandalwoodShining, alongside co-actor Ashika Ranganath.During the conversation, Sapthami said films cannot simply be labelled pan-India and said relatability matters more than dubbing or positioning. She also said the Kannada film industry had, at times, failed to deliver on its promises to audiences, while adding that viewers have continued to support good cinema.Asked whether she wanted to see more Kannada films like Kantara and Toxic gain a pan-India identity, Sapthami said every industry has films that find wider appeal. She said, “You can’t just make a movie and call it pan-India,” and added that some films achieve that reach on their own.She said catering to a pan-India market was not the difficult part, and argued that the real challenge was creating relatability. According to her, dubbing a film and calling it pan-India was not enough. Referring to Kantara, she said the film carried cultural aspects that can be seen across India, and added that its underlying theme — that the rich keep getting richer — was also something people could relate to. On audience trustSpeaking about Kannada cinema’s bond with viewers, Sapthami said the industry had “always had great audience” but admitted that it had fallen short. “We have lost their trust. We promised them something, and we didn’t deliver. That’s on us,” she said.She added that the industry had often underdelivered after overpromising. At the same time, she said audiences had never abandoned good Kannada cinema. Whenever there had been a strong film, she said, people had gone to theatres to watch it. She also pointed out that some films may not have been marketed well, but once they reached OTT platforms, viewers posted positive reviews. “Our audiences have always had our back,” she said.On unequal pay On pay disparity in the Kannada film industry, Sapthami said she had personally received a great deal of respect from everyone on the sets she had worked on. However, she said pay remained a debatable issue and added that it was not limited to the film industry alone.She said there was a significant difference between what male and female actors were paid. According to her, the ability to command better pay comes with the kind of audience pull that fills theatres, and she noted that bigger actors were now being paid in percentages. She also stressed that female actors put in substantial work and said their contribution went far beyond “putting on makeup and stand in front of a camera”. She added that she wished actresses “were paid a lot more than what it is currently”.Sapthami has starred in films like Kantara and The Vaccine War.- EndsPublished By: Priyanka SharmaPublished On: Aug 26, 2026 19:38 IST