The reel crusader

Right from the time he started to act in bit roles to the hit movies he has directed so far, Shetty has been making quiet strides in Kannada cinema.

Sarkari Hi. Pra. Shaale, Kasaragodu, Koduge: Ramanna Rai. No, that’s not a song. It’s the Kannada movie with the long-winding title that is winning the hearts of audiences all over. And it’s also actor-director Rishab Shetty’s third film as director. Shetty seems to be on a sturdy wicket with his third film also doing well, having recently completed 50 days in Bengaluru.

Right from the time he started to act in bit roles to the hit movies he has directed so far, Shetty has been making quiet strides in Kannada cinema.Hailing from the coastal town of Kundapur in Karnataka, the region’s rich culture has been easily assimilated into Shetty’s films. “Having been born and brought up here, I have seen and known everything from the way the people talk, walk, and their mannerisms. Many films have depicted Karnataka’s coastal beauty, but none of them have brought forth the lives of the people there and the issues they have had to deal with,” says Shetty.

While his debut film Ricky was on Naxalism in Karnataka with a love story in the backdrop, Sarkari Hi. Pra…..Rai focuses on Kasargod where a government-aided Kannada-medium school is being forced to shut down by greedy government officials. Told in a leisurely manner, the events in the film were not Shetty’s personal experience, though he had knowledge of the issue. “There was no star power in the film save for veteran Anant Nag. The movie is doing very well in the US and UAE. It’s the first Kannada film to be aired in the Andaman Islands,” says Shetty, adding that of the movies he has directed so far, it’s his personal favourite.

Though Shetty leans more towards direction than acting, right now he is gearing up for his debut as a hero in the film Bell Bottom, complete with side burns, cowboy moustache and side parting. “That’s on account of the character called Dinakaran I play. His claim of being a detective rests on the early 80s movies where Dr Rajkumar essayed such roles,” he laughs. The freshly minted hero loves comedy as a genre. Comedy was prevalent in his earlier films, but Bell Bottom is a full-scale comedy. At the same time, Shetty is coming up with an anthology titled Katha Sangama, an ode to Kannada auteur Puttana Kanagal, who had produced a similar effort with the same title in 1976. “I am directing the main story. This anthology consists of seven stories,” he says.

Shetty, who knows Tamil well, had plans to go beyond Kannada cinema, but for the moment he wants to be here. “Kannada cinema was at its best in the 80s. After Dr Rajkumar and Vishnuvardhan, there was a pause. This year was a bad time for us with the first half of the year ringing in only two hits,  Tagaru and Sarkari Hi…Shale,” he adds.

For the moment, Shetty is heavily invested in his role of a sleuth, his debut as a hero in Bell Bottom. Here’s hoping the movie will again unearth a hit.

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The New Indian Express
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