Sarkari Hiriya Prathamika Shaale: Koduge Ramanna Rai completed a 100-day run on November 30, and director Rishab Shetty is on top of the world. “My previous film, Kirik Party ran for 200 days, but somehow Sarkari.. ‘s completion of 100 days feels more satisfying,” says Rishab, adding, in the case of Kirik Party, the biggest advantage was that Rakshit Shetty had a large fan base. Secondly, social media really helped,” he says.
Rishab continues that in Sarkari... --- which highlights the shut down of Kannada medium schools — starred Anant Nag in a pivotal role, and included a host of child artistes, they didn’t have the kind of budget unlike their previous film. “Pramod Shetty and I literally ran around for loans during the film’s release. Which is why I consider Sarkari... a genuine hit. It just started with Dadda song, and we never hyped up the film. It was the audience who made this a hit. This is a best example to say ‘do the film’, and leave rest to the people to decide. Like Annavaru (Rajkumar) used to say Abhimanigalu Devaru-- it is completely true,” he says.
Rishab always considered Sarkari.. a commercial film. “Even the producers I had approached thought it will be an experimental film, which would win awards. Even though they say that success makes it easy for an actor and director, in my case, this is not true. I had to put in a lot more effort than Kirik Party,” he says.