Some people never give up if there is a sliver of hope. But Rishab Shetty, who is making his directorial debut with Ricky, does not believe in hoping beyond reason. After all, its been seven years since he has been thinking of the film. Finally, after a long, patient wait, he got what he wanted; the result being that the film is hitting theatres next week. Speaking about waiting, Rishab says, “On hindsight, I think I needed time. I thought of the story way back in 2009, but circumstances led to the delay. But I feel, the time allowed me to be a more mature director.”
According to him, even though he enjoys action, he chose a love story for his debut, primarily because the it revolves around the incidents he had witnessed when growing up in Kundapara. “I was born and brought in Kerady, a place near Kundapura, which is surrounded with mountains. It was a Naxal-affected area and I used to hear several stories from people around me, which formed the backdrop of the story,” he says and reveals that Ricky produced by SV Babu is a modern version of Radha and Krishna. “I have also explored an incident about Special Economic Zones, which I picked up from a programme by the central government,” says the director who has done a short-term course in direction from the Film and Television Institute, Bengaluru.
Elaborating on his team, Rishab says that he had initially thought of Diganth but, for some reason, they couldn’t connect. It was after seeing Tuqlaq, he opted for Rakshit. “My friendship with Rakshit started when Tughlaq released. I told him about my story during a short journey from Tribhuvan theatre to Jayanagar,” he reveals and shares that he chose Hariprriya after watching her performance in Ugramm. “We also have Pramod Shetty who takes the film to another level with his character. This apart Achyuth Kumar and Ravi Kale play pivotal roles in Ricky,” he says.
Rishab was glad to have associated with an experienced cinematographer like Venkatesh Anguraj, who has worked in films like Amarkalam and Gemini and worked with actors like Rajinikanth, Vikram, Suriya, and Dhanush among others. “He was one of the main strengths of my film. He brought in a lot of positive vibes on the sets. Though the schedule was planned for 99 days, I could finish in 69 days and it was possible because of him,” he says.
Arjun Janya is the movie's music director, who spent a lot of time on the background score, while the lyrics for the five songs have been written by Jayanth Kaikini, K Kalyan and Kaviraj. “A lot of coordination happened between Arjun Janya and me to bring out the best. The visuals shared with Arjun helped him enhance the music,” Rishab says.
The journey from Kerady to Kashmir While the thought of a love story with societal backdrop started from Kerady, the makers shot in Karkala for 46 days inside deep forest and surrounding places. “In order to make it more realistic, we constructed a house from materials sourced from demolished sites. It was not an art director but a mestri who built the house,” he discloses and adds that his experience as a civic contractor helped in the design. “We spent around `10 lakh to build the house,” says Rishab.
The team shot extensively for four days in Bengaluru, nine days in Melkote and 12 days in Kashmir.