Raj B Shetty on Toby: My intention was always to make a good film; not just a good Kannada film

In a conversation with OTTplay, tells us that he is trying to get Toby to travel to other markets, outside of Karnataka as well

Raj B Shetty is presenting his film Toby on August 25

When Raj B Shetty made Ondu Motteya Kathe, the story of a balding man, it struck a chord with audiences, so much so that it inspired two remakes, one in Malayalam that he liked and another in Hindi, which he didn’t like as much. His next was a gangster tale called Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana, which he released only in Kannada and did not even dub for the OTT outing. The remake rights were sold, but those versions are yet to be made.

With Raj B Shetty's next, Toby there were rumours that it wil l be a pan-India release in at least 5 languages, led by the Kannada original version, of course. During the promotions of the film, Raj confirmed that he had enquiries from distributors for a Telugu version, while KVN Productions, which is handling the distribution of the film said that dubbed versions in Telugu and Tamil were ready. The interest in Raj’s film is such that a digital channel crew from Bengal came to talk to him. Is he really taking the film everywhere?

“I’m trying to; if it goes, I’d be very happy for the producers of Toby. Having said that, I must add that when I set out to make a film, the intention is to make a good movie; and not just a good Kannada movie. When people everywhere watch that good film and say that there is a good movie from Kannada, that should be the aim. Otherwise, we will be limited to thinking that we are kings in our markets and pat our own backs. If that’s the case, our language and culture will not travel across borders. As such, our intention is to take this good film and release it in Kannada first. If it is well received, we would be more than happy if others come and take it to their markets. I will not do it, though,” Raj tells us.

Read also: Raj B Shetty on life before cinema | "All I had envisioned for myself was marriage & a small family"

Toby, which has Raj in the title role, is set to release in theatres on August 25. KVN, we are told, is targeting around 200 screens around Karnataka and will release the film in key markets across the country in the original Kannada version. A final screen count and destinations will be updated by Wednesday or Thursday. The team is expected to kickstart the box office journey with paid premieres on August 24.

Read also: Toby: The Raj B Shetty school of cinema helped me become a director, says Basil Chalakkal

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