Will Raj B Shetty skip a theatrical release for his next, Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye?

When Raj B Shetty was promoting his last directorial, Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana in 2021, he was clear that he wanted to be done and dusted with it quickly, as it was a film that he’d made in 2019. He needed to move on. The filmmaker-actor recently finished his third in less than 20 days, and has been working on the post-production too. The film, currently called Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye, is the debut production venture of actress Ramya under her AppleBox Studios. Ever since they finished filming, Ramya, Raj and heroine Siri Ravikumar have often posted on social media that they can’t wait to show the film to audiences.

According to the buzz in industry circles, Raj was apparently all set to send the film to be censored and clear all decks for its release, but then, today, veteran filmmaker SV Rajendra Singh Babu sent out an injunction notice preventing BK Gangadhar, who currently holds the rights to the title Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye, from its use and subsequent censor certification of any film holding the name.

A month ago, Rajendra Singh Babu had raised objection to the use of the title, as he had an incomplete film by the same name. His movie had the late Rebel Star Ambareesh in the lead and was about 80% done when the actor passed away. Moreover, the title is a derivative from a popular song in his film Bannada. At the time, KFCC president Ba Ma Harish had clarified that the title belonged to Gangadhar and that he was in the process of officially handing it over to Ramya, who had announced it was the working name of her first production.

Amid all this also comes news that Ramya and Raj may look at skipping a theatrical release for the film altogether. The plan was to, apparently, bring it directly to OTT in time for Valentine’s Day. The current stay order, although not directed at Ramya and Raj, could throw a spanner in the works.