Raj B Shetty Exclusive - 'No harm in saying that Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye isn't a commercial film'

Raj B Shetty is of the firm belief that the precise purpose of promoting a film must be to ultimately find the right audience. By 'right', he means that given the specific nature of a film, the audience that is likely to be organically drawn towards it must be aimed at during the said pre-release promotions. And he has no qualms in asserting that Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye, his upcoming directorial, does not boast the "commercial appeal" and that his job prior to the release is to help the film reach the ideal viewer first. 

"I cannot simply project my film as your typical 'commercial' viewing and then show you a completely different one on the big screen. With films like Toby and Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana, we had to invite audiences to the theatres because the theatrical or 'community' experience of those films is starkly different to what Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye is meant to offer."

Raj B Shetty Exclusive | 'Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye is an important exploration'

"Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye is about loneliness, stillness and love - and it isn't the conventional love we see in films between a boy and a girl. This film deals with the relationship or love between a counsellor for the terminally ill and one of her patients. You don't normally see that in a film, do you? And more importantly, if I pitch my film in the wrong way during promotions, I would be doing injustice to not just the viewer but also the film," says Raj B Shetty.

"I did want Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye to be an OTT release, but..."

In the same vein, Raj has been quite vocal in the past about wanting his film to be a straight-to-OTT release considering its essence. But following a bit of a back-and-forth and deliberation, team Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye eventually decided to bring the film out in theatres and Raj explains what transpired in the meantime.

"It was simply a matter of understanding the perspective that OTT platforms, which I gathered after speaking to a bunch of them. What they tell me is that the theatre and the OTT aren't necessarily two separate media right now but instead, they work collaboratively. When a film does well in theatres, it has a great chance of reaching a wider audience on digital. I was of the opinion prior to that that films like Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye, which are meant more for 'personal viewing', would be better off releasing on OTT but the question the streamers asked me was - how are you promoting your film? But when a film first hits the big screen and runs for about a couple of weeks, you are promoting it indirectly. As I said, it was about understanding these aspects," says Raj B Shetty.

"I haven't made this film keeping commerce in mind"

So, is he glad that his film is finally seeing the light of day? "See, again, I am asserting that this film does not have the typical commercial aspects and I am not going to be subdued about this fact. Let's say someone has got two hours to spare and they seek entertainment, I wouldn't really recommend they watch Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye because the film won't serve that purpose. Instead, they could definitely watch Sugar Factory or even Bad Manners, for that matter. One will realize that I have chosen quite wholeheartedly to make a film like Swathi Mutthina... after Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana and my new film hasn't been made with commerce in mind," he adds.

Exclusive | Raj B Shetty says 'With Siri Ravikumar, Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye has become beautiful poetry'

Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye, of course, releases in theatres on November 24th along with the Darling Krishna - Sonal Monteiro romcom 'Sugar Factory' and Duniya Suri action-thriller 'Bad Manners', starring Abishek Ambareesh and Rachita Ram.

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