Rakshit Shetty on what’s plaguing the Kannada film industry; his plans for Paramvah Studios

It’s been more than a year since Kannada actor-filmmaker Rakshit Shetty was last seen onscreen. Following the release of Sapta Sagaradaache Ello Side B, Rakshit had said that he was gearing up to get his next directorial, Richard Anthony on the road. He’s been writing the Ulidavaru Kandanthe prequel for a while, after all. In fact, when OTTplay spoke to him in late 2023, he’d said that he was looking at a year-and-a-half in making the film and that it would release in 2025.

Well, 2024 is nearly done, and Rakshit is no closer to bringing Richard Anthony to audiences as he was back then. He is apparently on a research tour, which took him to Dubai first, and then to the USA. He was recently in Canada, where he addressed a group of Kannadigas and spoke at length about his journey from being a software engineer to getting his first break in cinema, writing the first draft of Kirik Party, Ulidavaru Kandanthe, etc.

Rakshit Shetty on his Paramvah Studios: Good cinema happens when a filmmaker can tell stories without any compromise 

Rakshit Shetty: Paramvah Studios will keep audiences busy

During the interaction, Rakshit also spoke about his vision for his production house. “We’ve had 2 distinct phases with the banner – first, it was about films that I act in working at the box office; then it was about our production ventures becoming hits. We are now at the threshold of the next phase. The aim is to produce 10-12 films in a year from Paramvah Studios. The problem we have right now is that the Kannada film industry is on the backfoot. For it to really be considered an industry, you need at least 15 hit movies in a year. Instead, if you have only 2 that work at the box office, from hundreds that are made year-on-year, then I don’t think it’s grown to an industry level,” he said.

Rakshit Shetty on cracking the OTT formula in Kannada: 'Filmmakers here aspire to make films and not web shows' 

Rakshit added that when there are only 1 or 2 films for audiences to look forward to, even if another good movie comes in between, it may go unnoticed. “It’s like a person who is fasting and has gotten used to having only 1 meal a day; he/she will wait till that next meal and will not think of food at any other time. Similarly, if audiences wait around for whenever, say, Rishab, Yash, or the other stars, make films, good movies by newcomers will not get the attention they deserve and will, hence, fail. The need of the hour is to have at least one good film every month. You need to create that hunger for audiences, to consume good cinema month-on-month,” he says, adding, Paramvah Studios’ aim, therefore, is to keep audiences busy.