Raj B Shetty resurfaces on social media; prompts Richard Anthony casting speculation

Kannada actor-filmmaker Raj B Shetty, who’s been missing in action on social media since the release of his film Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye, has resurfaced. Earlier today, Raj took to Instagram with a story post. “Here we meet again”, he captioned the image of himself. Raj, who has been busy with multiple acting commitments, including 45 with Shivarajkumar and Turbo with Mammootty, was recently announced to be on the cast of Duniya Vijay’ film.

Raj’s return to the land of social media coincides, interestingly, with the pre-production start of his pal Rakshit Shetty’s next directorial, Richard Anthony. Rakshit had recently announced that he was looking at having only local artistes from Udupi and the surrounding coastal areas to ensure that they’d be fluent in the dialect and slang of the region. Considering that Rakshit, Rishab Shetty, Raj and Pramod Shetty are close pals and collaborate with each other in various capacities, Richard Anthony will feature some, if not all of them.

Why actor-filmmaker Raj B Shetty is desperate for some free time 

Rishab is currently busy with the shoot of Kantara Chapter 1 – A Legend, for which massive sets have been put up in Kundapura. Raj had done a minor role in Rakshit’s 777 Charlie and helped with its writing and is the most likely candidate to be in Richard Anthony as well. Also, considering that Raj’s choreography of the Bhootha Kola in Kantara- A Folklore was among its most talked about elements, could he be onboard to weave his magic in Richard Anthony?

Rakshit Shetty on Richard Anthony: Recreating Udupi of the 60s and 70s a challenge; actors to be from coastal belt only 

Richard Anthony, meanwhile, is Rakshit’s Ulidavaru Kandanthe spin off, focusing on his character, Richie, Aka, Richard Anthony. The film is said to be a prequel and sequel to the events of Ulidavaru Kandanthe, with Rakshit said to be recreating Udupi of the 60s and 70s for the film.

During the promotions of Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye, Raj had spoken about a couple of projects that he was writing to launch new filmmakers through his banner. He is also said to be working on the script for a Kannada web series that he is looking at taking on floors shortly. Could he be set to make an announcement for a new project that he’s excited about? Remember how he’d been on social media in the days before he announced Toby?

Ulidavaru Kandanthe, the film on which Richard Anthony is built, is available to stream on OTTplay Premium with its Simply South pack. Watch the best of South cinema on ZEE5, aha, ManoramaMAX, SunNXT and 250+ live TV channels with OTTplay Premium subscription of the Simply South pack that includes 19 streaming platforms at just ₹75 for the first month, using the code OTTORG75