Raj B Shetty explains how he managed to shoot Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye in all of 18 days

Raj says that he employed editing techniques even to his writing, which made the shoot and post-production of Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye a cakewalk

Siri Ravikumar and Raj B Shetty in a still from Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye

Raj B Shetty has often spoken about the clarity a writer-filmmaker like him needs in putting together a script, so as to avoid shooting unnecessary sequences and complicating the editing process. He is all about shooting only what is absolutely necessary. A technique he was able to effectively employ even with his next, Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye, which he shot in only 18 days. The funda, he says, speaking to Kadakk Cinema, is that if one employs editing techniques as early as in the writing process itself, there is a lot more control that one has over everything that follows. Filmmaking, he adds, is about precision and presenting an impactful journey, which is what he prefers doing. Shooting multiple montages and creating a rhythm with that in post-production is not his cup of tea, he reckons.

Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye will make you fall in love with love: Ramya

Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye is a story that unfolds at a palliative care centre, where Siri Ravikumar’s Prerana is a counsellor, who has to ensure that the patients in her care have the most peaceful end-stage experience, as she preps them for the inevitable. Prerana has her own baggage to deal with, apart from the heavy-duty nature of her job. When she then meets Aniketh, played by Raj, who initially opts for no counselling in his last days, they develop a bond of comfort and caring and how that changes Prerana’s life forms the crux of the film.

Exclusive! I must evolve as an artiste and can’t do what I did 20 years ago: Ramya

The role that Siri has played was initially meant for producer Ramya, but she opted out of it because the film was initially meant to have a direct-to-OTT outing and she wanted her comeback to be with a theatrical release. But then, much after Siri was cast and the film was ready, the platform that had shown readiness to pick it up, backed out, which is why Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye is a theatrical release now on November 24.

Share