A long-haired, heavy-bearded and visibly buffed up Rishab Shetty is hard to recognise in the first teaser of Kantara A Legend Chapter-1, dropped by the makers on Monday.

The one-minute-22-second-long video begins with Rishab standing in a dense forest with a torch in his hand. A ring of fire encircles him as a voiceover declares, “Everything is visible in light. But, this isn’t light. This is a vision which would reveal the past, the present and the future.”

Set to a pulsating score, the subsequent scenes show Rishab standing inside a cave in an avatar reminiscent of Lord Shiva. Blood streams down his chiselled physique and he holds a trident in his hand. The actor sports long, matted hair and a bushy beard. His eyes also appear to be glowing in the dark.

The teaser further reveals that the upcoming prequel is set in Karnataka during the reign of the Kadamba dynasty, which ruled parts of south-western India between the 4th and 6th centuries.

The makers announced on Monday that Kantara A Legend Chapter-1 will hit theatres on October 2 next year. The upcoming film also stars Tollywood actor Jisshu Sengupta in a key role. B Ajaneesh Loknath has scored the music for the film.

The prequel is written and directed by Rishab, who bagged the National Award for best actor last year for his role in the 2022 blockbuster.

Kantara, which was made on a reported budget of Rs 16 crore, went on to earn over Rs 400 crore across the globe.