Rakshit Shetty: ‘The films that help make me a better human being are…’

Rakshit Shetty is a fan of mythological films and within the genre, his personal favourites are those that had matinee idol Dr Rajkumar in the lead. “I’ve not missed a single mythological film starring Dr Rajkumar, and have, in fact, watched each of them at least 2-3 times. On a very personal level, I know how much these films impact and influence me in becoming a better human being. At every stage of my life, when I had to take decisions, I would look at the various mythological characters Dr Rajkumar has played and see what they would have done in similar situations. I have taken a lot of references like that. I am a huge fan of mythological films,” said Rakshit at a recent event hosted by a Kannada Sangha in Canada.

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Rakshit Shetty: If you make a mythological film today...

While the genre holds a special allure for Rakshit, he says that if he were to attempt to make a mythological film today, he’d have to do it very differently. “If you make a mythological film in the same style that it was done decades ago, it will not work for audiences. Today, if you do it, you have to do it like Game of Thrones. The world is ready to watch these films and we have plans. Punyakoti is one of them; it is going to be a mythological film,” he added.

Rakshit also maintained that his lineup of directorial films remains the same as he’d announced a while ago. His top priority is, undoubtedly, to get cracking on Richard Anthony, the prequel to Ulidavaru Kandanthe, which he announced as his return to direction in July 2021. The actor-filmmaker had said that he was working on a final version of the script of Richard Anthony in mid-2023, and is yet to zero in on the draft that he will go on floors with.

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Once he gets cracking on Richard Anthony, Rakshit is hopeful of wrapping it up quickly and proceeding to start Punyakoti, which will be a two-part project. That is his dream project.