Kantara, a movie made on a budget of Rs 16 Crores has taken the entire world by storm. This Kannada movie has broken many records worldwide as it became one of the most successful movies of the year. As per some sources, the movie made on a budget of Rs 16 Crore managed to earn Rs. 325 Crores.
Kannada actor-filmmaker Rishabh Shetty has been overwhelmed with the success of Kantara which managed to beat superstar Akshay Kumar’s Ram Setu and Ajay Devgn’s Thank God at the box office.
Won’t Do Hindi films: Rishab Shetty
After the roaring success of Kantara, Rishabh Shetty chose to remain grounded. In an interview with Bollywood Bubble, he opens up about how he has no desire to do Hindi movies. He would stick to his roots and would do Kannada movies. While refusing to do Hindi movies, he said, “I want to do Kannada movies. I’m a proud Kannadiga. It’s because of the Kannada film industry and Kannada people, I am here today. Just because a film becomes a hit, my family and friends won’t change no. My core lies with Kannada cinema.”
Rishab Shetty Not Interested In Remakes
Some days back, Rishab also made it clear that he has no interest to remake Kantara in Hindi. When enquired by ETimes as to who should hypothetically play his role in the remake, he simply answered, “To play such characters you have to believe in the roots and culture. There are many big actors in the Hindi film industry whom I admire. But I am not interested in remakes.”
Rishab On Bollywood Losing Local Touch
Talking about Kantara’s success with Hindustan Times, Rishabh mentioned, “When I write, the background I select is from the world I have seen. If you look at Kantara, it is a simple story. There is a hero, there is a villain, we have romance and the regular stuff. What is new is the background, the layers, and the packaging. All this comes together to create the film’s feel. This is my village’s story, something I have seen since I was a kid, so I presented it. I always say ‘more regional is more universal’. So, if a filmmaker can find this feel, this culture in their region and present and package the story, then maybe it may work. But it can’t be exactly this,”
Talking about Bollywood movies losing local touch, Rishabh said, “We make the film for the audience, not for ourselves. We need to keep them and their sentiments in mind. We need to see what their values and way of life are. We were there before we were filmmakers. But now, too much western influence and consumption of Hollywood and other content has led to filmmakers trying to do the same in India. But why are you trying that? People are already getting that in Hollywood, and they are doing it better in terms of quality, storytelling and performances,”
It is quite amazing how an unconventional movie like Kantara received so much love and affection from celebs, fans, and critics. From Rajinikanth to Prabhas to Kangana to Shilpa Shetty, many celebs have applauded the makers for creating such a thrilling experience for their fans. We hope Bollywood would seek inspiration from Rishab to create such a heart-touching and thought-provoking movie!