Rakshit Shetty Exclusive | 'A hero like Manu, a film like Sapta Sagaradaache Ello feel relevant to the times we live in'

Being vulnerable on screen is no vanity exercise for Rakshit Shetty, but rather a means to play characters that he resonates the most with in real life. "For me, a hero is someone who is flawed like all of us, but he manages to overcome those flaws, those shortcomings. So, I look at a hero as a character with respect to what his journey is. I find those characters real because the other kinds of heroes that we have grown up watching, you don't see them in real life, do we? Probably those heroes would be behind bars, if they were to exist in real life - you take a hockey stick and beat up 100 people, obviously, you will be put behind bars (laughs)."

"So, for me, being someone like Manu feels real and I suppose this character could also inspire a few people. They might not exactly follow Manu but he could help them realize something," says Rakshit Shetty.

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"Love Stories like DDLJ, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai not relevant anymore"

Rakshit also does not shy away from saying that the cinema that he himself consumed at one point isn't all that relevant anymore, mainly because the characters, the setting and the overall reality of these characters feel far removed from the reality most of us live in.

"I mean, I grew up watching and loving films like DDLJ, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham. We all connected with the hero in each of these films and said to ourselves, "Oh, I want to be a lover boy like him," when you are in your late teens. See, consciously, I might have never thought of being a 'lover boy' like Shah Rukh Khan but it is true that when I have sought love in real life, especially during college, I have subconsciously channelled his personality. Not just those characters but also the music we heard in those films inspired us, shaped us a certain way. But cut to 20-30 years later and a generation, as a whole, has evolved with time. So, I do feel that for the current times, a film like Sapta Sagaradaache Ello will be more relevant because the audience doesn't believe any more that DDLJ-like love stories occur around us. Those stories might have been aspirational at one point but that's not the case anymore. It just comes down to those characters not being fully relevant to us now," opines Rakshit Shetty.

"Seeing Sapta Sagaradaache Ello in theatres will be a celebration"

Sapta Sagaradaache Ello, the film in question, is also a film that features Rakshit in not one but two diverse shades and the actor has undergone a mighty physical transformation to set them apart. This also meant that he has spent a lot of time on the film, both as an actor and producer, so come September 1, will he experience a huge sense of relief seeing this labour of love finally in theatres?

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"For me, it will be more of a celebration because the 'relief' bit happened right after we wrapped Side B of the film. I actually went into the sea after the shoot and swam, took a boat ride for a while and all that. At the moment, I am looking forward to the September 1 release and I want to celebrate this film with the audience. It's the same feeling for every film but this one's really special in a lot of ways," he adds.