BENGALURU: Even as he was soaking in the experience of Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 12th Fail, actor-fashion director Rahul Dev Shetty’s next project Scam 2003: The Telgi Story (Volume 2) was out. It’s safe to say that currently, he is on a roll.
In 12th Fail, which is based on the story of an IPS officer, Shetty plays the role of the UPSC chairman. “He is somebody who is not very positive towards vernacular medium students. He is a righteous man who wants the best candidate to represent the country when it comes to bureaucracy,” says Shetty, adding that the character being the brainchild of Chopra, was extremely crisp, clear, and well-written.
Having high praises for Chopra, Shetty says it was a ‘joy and pleasure’ to work with him. “He was encouraging and calmed us down. In the scene, we were a group of five and even if one person was getting a little nervous, he would take his time and estimate them to get the best out of them. He had already seen the movie in his head. We didn’t know some of those lines would make such an impact. And the way he edited it, made a difference,” says Shetty.
Shetty was also seen in Scam 2003: The Telgi Story, where he plays a Karnataka police officer. “I play a cop who is assigned to catch Telgi but also has to be lenient because his bosses are involved,” says Shetty. The show is divided into two parts, an idea he expresses his displeasure towards. “They split it up. The first part was out in September. I’m not a firm believer in doing that in a web series because it loses its momentum. But the story is such that it will get audiences hooked to the show,” he adds.
Already a known name in the fashion industry, acting came to Shetty during Covid times. “I was kind of pushed into it. It all happened during Covid when fashion shows and the gathering of people in a place couldn’t be more than 50. I was out of work during that time so I had to just improvise,” says Shetty. The transition was not too difficult since he found similarities in both professions. “Since I am a director in the fashion world, I would call movies a bigger version of what I do. The creative process of being in a movie or web series is just ten-fold of what a fashion event is,” he says.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, as in the case of city-based fashion director Rahul Dev Shetty, who had to turn actor during Covid times after finding himself out of work. But in the last two weeks, Shetty has had two releases– 12th Fail and Scam 2003: The Telgi Story