Film industry boundaries are vanishing in India: Rakshit Shetty

On winning the National Award for 777 Charlie, Kannada actor Rakshit Shetty felt nothing but gratitude. His recent film Sapthasagaradache Ello garnered good response from the Telugu audience. In an exclusive interview with Deccan Chronicle, Rakshit observes that the boundaries between multiple film industries within India are vanishing leading to emergence of Indian cinema.

When working in a movie, actors need to have a certain equation or a chemistry with their co-stars. But in Charlie, the co-star was an animal, a dog. How did you develop that kind of bonding? Are you generally fond of pets or you did you train for the role?

To be honest, I was not very fond of pets until I did Charlie. Initially I was fond of pets as a child. But after I lost a few of them, I stayed away from pets for a long time. Only during Charlie, did I develop a desire to have pets at home again. So, I have three dogs at home now. Charlie changed that.

You have always chosen offbeat subjects for your movies like Charlie, Kirik Party and then there was Avane Srimannarayana, a fantasy movie. So, what prompted the choice this time?

Every film I do, I try to make sure it is not similar to my earlier films. With every film, I want to break barriers and attempt something which I have not done before and avoid getting typecast. So, Sapthasagaradache Ello is very different from any of the films I have done till now.

Why did you think Saptasagaradache Ello will appeal to the Telugu audience although it was made in Kannada?

Firstly, Charlie had a very good response in Telugu and I always call this as a land of Cinema, where you know they accept good films, irrespective of what language it comes from. When the Kannada version released in Hyderabad, it was running to packed houses for nearly two weeks. Although we had limited shows, we received tremendous response from Telugu bloggers and a few filmmakers who called to tell us that we should release the film in Telugu and that it will work in Telugu. So, we took that as a signal and thought we will also release Saptasagaradache Ello in Telugu and see how it works.

But movies like Kantara made it big in a single language. Now with OTT and subtitles, is it necessary to dub a movie?

If you ask me, I am someone who would want to watch it in the original language with subtitles. But there is a big section of audience, who would want to watch dubbed version in their own language. So, we want to cater to both the audiences and the reach of the film will only increase by doing so and it will not hamper the film in any way.

Generally, filmmakers make one part, and wait to see the response before deciding upon a sequel. But you shot both parts of Saptasagaradache Ello, did you not think you were taking a big risk with that?

When I heard the script for the first time, it was meant to be one film. But once we started shooting the movie, we realized that to do justice to the first half of the script required a complete movie. Hemanth shot the whole film in a very poetic manner. He told me after the completion of the shooting of the first half that this is one complete film now, so what do we do now? I told him that we will shoot the other part of the film as well doing justice to the whole story that you had written.

Then we will take a call, once we edit the film. So, we shot the second part also and then viewed both the films together. We then thought that if we were to cut anything from this, then the emotional journey that the audience must go through will be compromised. So, we decided to release it in two parts. Both the films are poetic, but of different genre. So that shift of genre in the same film would have been awkward.

There are several female actors from Karnataka like Aishwarya Rai, Deepika, who have made it big in Bollywood and in Tollywood, we have Kriti Shetty, Anushka making a mark. They are easily moving across the industries but why does it not happen with male actors? Is it easier for women to move?

I believe, normally male actors just do one film at a time because a lot of things are on their shoulders as well. Female actors tend to do many films at a time as per my observation and it is easy for them to shift from Telugu to Tamil and Tamil to Kannada. Based on their schedule, they can do three films in three different languages. But if it is a woman-centric film, probably it will be difficult. But it is not the same with leading male actors. They have to create their own market to survive.

What is the biggest difference you have noticed in Tollywood and Sandalwood, since you have seen both the industries?

The biggest difference according to me is that in Sandalwood (Kannada film industry), the beauty is that there is a lot of scope for experiments. Now for example, this kind of film has not come in Kannada for the last three decades. I believe there have been many love stories, but not of this kind. But it did extremely well in Kannada because Kannada audience only ask for good films. If you give them good films, they will come and watch it in theatres. But in Telugu, I believe there are certain kinds of films which do well here and I think, filmmakers would not try a film like Saptasagaradache Ello or the experimentation that we do in Kannada. Even though I have not made films here, I have heard Tollywood filmmakers say this. But I am still trying to understand what works and what doesn't work here.

Is there any Telugu film which you really liked and would want to remake in Kannada?

I do not believe in remakes. I believe that every film is an opportunity of writing a great script. I very strongly believe that no one should do remakes because right now, it is time to cross the border and explore new boundaries and remakes may not offer you that chance.

I see that a lot is happening on the crossover front with veteran stars like Shivaraj Kumar and Mohan Lal are appearing in Tamil movies, which was unheard of and unseen till recently.

Yes. So that is going to happen more. I believe that in the OTT era, the boundaries are vanishing. We are moving towards South Indian film industry rather than Telugu, Tamil, or Kannada film industry.

Do we get to see you exploring OTT space, would you be interested in a web series kind of thing or you want to stick to the big screen?

I am more of a cinema guy, who likes stories told in two and a half hours. But I do have stories which can run into 10 episodes. But as of now, that is not the focus. I want to do more films and then probably, shift to web series someday and come back to films.

What is it that really makes you happy?

Cinema. The whole process of cinema making from writing the script to shooting on the floor to sound designing, editing, and seeing the final output coming alive on screen. It is like a dream that you had as a child and now you are shaping it into a reality. So, I think that is the most beautiful feeling and I am happiest when I am shooting on the floor.

What defines success for you—Awards, box office numbers or the satisfaction of a good performance?

To me the satisfaction comes first, but an award is definitely a feather on the cap, it is like an icing on the cake.