For actor Rishi, the lockdown period has allowed him to lay his hands on to as many script as possible. The Kavaludaari hero is looking forward to the release of Sakalakala Vallabha, which is ready for release. He will follow it with Islahuddin’s Flip Flop.
He was also busy shooting for Ramana Avatara, before the COVID-19 outbreak happened. Meanwhile, the actor has given a green signal to a script by director Mohan Singh for a project backed by director-producer Shashankh and story written by director Yogaraj Bhat.
However, he has now decided to push the shooting to a later date.
“Since I don’t have clarity on the release dates of my current two films, as well the shooting schedule of Ramana Avatara, I felt it doesn’t make sense to shoot the film, and keep it ready and not release it. The shooting schedule of Mohan Singh’s directorial will be decided once the lockdown gets over and when planning gets easier,” he says.
Meanwhile, Rishi has been keeping himself busy by listening to stories on a daily basis. “I usually get a narration over the phone, but I prefer a written script, a brief synopsis, which has been coming to my inbox from various directors every day.
"Since I have been doing this even before the lockdown, I haven’t kept a count on the number of scripts I have gone through,” he says, adding, “Out of them, I have found a couple of subjects to be interesting, and they need to be developed further. Once I am convinced with the entire story, I plan to take up these projects.” According to Rishi, once the shooting process gets resumed, he will not be able to give this kind of time to the directors who will be approaching him.
“This lockdown has also got me to anlayse that there are some promising filmmakers out there, with whom I want to work, and I am using this time to have discussions with them,” he says. This apart, Rishi is also using looking at ways to learn new things.
“This is a suitable time to know what I can add to my skills, and explore my abilities,” says the actor, revealing that he was never an avid movie watcher but now he watches one film a day. “It is a great learning experience, to see other’s work. I am hoping to make this lockdown period as productive as possible for myself,” he says.