00:00 He is a simple star, but he is a great actor who attracts a lot of viewers.
00:08 He is Rakshit Sethi.
00:09 He won a great award in Kannada for his film 'Saptasagara'.
00:14 His Telugu version is coming out this Friday.
00:20 Rakshit Sethi is with us for the promotion.
00:22 Hi sir.
00:23 Hi.
00:24 Simple star, but you are a great producer in the movies. So how do you find?
00:31 Simple star is the title which I got because of my first hit 'Simple Love Story'.
00:37 And that is people show their love calling me that.
00:43 Otherwise I never carry any title like that.
00:46 I just want to keep my name Rakshit Sethi. It is very simple, as simple as that.
00:51 First of all, before the interview, I want to congratulate you for many reasons.
00:57 Because Charlie Trivulsion was a hit.
01:00 Charlie Trivulsion got a national award.
01:04 And now 'Saptasagara' is coming with a big bang.
01:09 So congratulations for that.
01:11 Thank you so much.
01:12 So how do you find the success?
01:14 How are you enjoying the success?
01:16 Definitely, because for every film we give one or two years in the making.
01:23 And when you dedicate two years of your life to a film, it has to find success.
01:31 Otherwise there has to be good result for the work that you have done.
01:39 So it is beautiful when it is accepted and people give you raving reviews.
01:46 So when Hemant narrated the story, what was your feeling?
01:50 How does it work at box office?
01:56 These kind of questions will raise you.
01:59 I normally don't look at films like that.
02:02 I normally listen to the story and see what kind of character I am going to play.
02:06 Is it going to be fun? Is it going to be a new experience for me?
02:10 Because I don't like repeating my characters.
02:12 I want to play different characters in every film.
02:16 For example, in this film I play Manu, a very innocent character.
02:22 That kind of innocence you can see on his face.
02:28 And my previous film was 'Trivulsion and Charlie'.
02:34 I played a very introvert character.
02:36 Before that I played a quirky character.
02:40 I like to break my previous image and create a new image in every film.
02:47 And explore myself as an artist.
02:49 So next I will be playing Richard Anthony, a completely outlandish commercial character.
02:55 I enjoy this as an artist.
02:57 We heard that you are not a spontaneous actor.
03:00 So when you narrated this character, what was your thought process and what was your exercise for the character?
03:08 We started with a workshop.
03:12 Hemant normally prepares his actors before he takes them on floor.
03:23 He prepared both me and Rukmini to play Manu and Priya.
03:30 The initial 20-25 days of the shoot was completely based on the workshop.
03:39 Not that we rehearsed any scenes in the workshop.
03:42 We didn't do that.
03:43 But the chemistry was built very well in the workshop.
03:48 After that as you shoot new scenes, the character starts growing inside you.
03:55 Although you know the scenes beforehand, once you start playing them only, you internalize them.
04:01 You start observing your body language and improvise on it in the next scene.
04:08 And for the next scene, how can you adopt that character even better.
04:14 It's a constant process. You keep working on the character throughout the film.
04:19 What was the toughest phase and challenge for this movie?
04:24 I don't see any phase as tough.
04:32 Once you get inside the character, everything is easy.
04:36 It's just that you have to be dedicated.
04:38 You have to have patience because a film takes a long time for the shoot to finish.
04:48 Especially this film, we shot it in 137 days.
04:51 The character variation, not just Side A Manu, but Side B Manu is even more difficult.
04:58 Because he is a little psyched in the head.
05:01 So Side A Manu was even more difficult to play.
05:07 It's an emotional journey. How tough was it to be in the character?
05:13 My 10 years of experience has given me enough experience to be in the character and come out of the character as soon as the director calls cut.
05:24 It's not difficult anymore.
05:27 It's actually enjoyable to be frank.
05:31 For an artist, any emotion you go through, ultimately you know that this is not you.
05:37 As soon as the director says cut, you know you are not Manu. You are Akshit.
05:41 For an artist, it's beautiful because you get to experience certain emotions which is not yours.
05:51 It's somebody else. You are not suffering the emotion.
05:55 You go through that emotion and suddenly you see that this is not me.
06:00 It's a beautiful experience for an artist.
06:03 Emotion connects all the people irrespective of language and boundaries.
06:09 Why were you not planning for the Pan India movie when this kind of love story came out?
06:14 I believe not every film has to be Pan India.
06:17 If there is a market, you will have to plan it well and do the Pan India film.
06:23 But otherwise, sometimes you should just let the cinema flow.
06:29 In fact, when we released this film in Karnataka only, we didn't go for a big release.
06:35 Not as big as Charlie. We didn't promote it as not as big as Charlie.
06:41 We just had one trailer which came out and then two lyrical videos which came out.
06:46 Other than that, we didn't have too many contents also to promote.
06:52 But the film grew. The film got the audience to the theatre.
07:00 And then the word of mouth was spread and it grew every week.
07:06 Is there any other language demand, request?
07:10 There is a demand from Nallialam also.
07:12 So, next week we might be releasing the film in Nallialam.
07:16 So, when it comes to Kannada industry, there is a lot of buzz about the movies and directors, storytellers.
07:24 So, in Tollywood, a lot of words about the RRR. Raj Shetty and Rakshith Bishop.
07:35 So, what exactly you have been in discussion when you get this kind of RRR tag?
07:42 Actually, we are good friends. Good friends who are filmmakers.
07:47 In fact, in a certain way, we definitely cater to a certain kind of audience.
07:53 Our audience are probably the same.
07:56 But Rishabh is a very commercial thinking wise only.
08:02 Raj, thinking wise only, is a very class, very Malayalam films kind of thinker.
08:09 Whereas I probably am a balance between both of them.
08:13 But when it comes to cinema, we don't discuss much of cinema at all.
08:18 When we are together, we are just friends.
08:20 And you know, we are like normally how friends are. That's how we are.
08:24 We don't discuss too many things about films.
08:26 So, you three people are different from the other filmmakers in Kannada.
08:31 You people are telling the stories from the roots.
08:35 So, what is the make difference?
08:37 That is probably because of where we come from.
08:40 We come from the west coast of Karnataka.
08:48 It has a lot of traditions and culture.
08:51 And anybody who has grown from there want to adopt that culture and traditions in their films.
08:57 That's how we are influenced with that soil.
09:02 I believe that should happen throughout Karnataka and many more filmmakers from other parts of Karnataka should also come and start doing it.
09:09 Luckily, you know, we have already...
09:12 Because Rishabh comes from Kundapura, which is one part of the west coast.
09:18 And you come like 60 kilometers or 35-40 kilometers this side.
09:23 I come from Udupi. And then you go another 60 kilometers this side.
09:26 Raj comes from Mangalore.
09:28 Now you go another 35 kilometers that side, there is Kiran Raj, director of Charlie, who has come from Kasargod.
09:36 So, we have a beautiful team now of the west coast.
09:40 It's just that we have to cover the rest of Karnataka.
09:43 So, how would you deal your competition between you three?
09:47 There is no competition because there is space for everyone in the film industry.
09:51 Anybody can make a good film and there are audience who want to watch good films.
09:59 So, there is definitely no competition between us.
10:02 In fact, we are supporting each other when it comes to films.
10:06 So, tell about the strengths of the Saptasagar.
10:09 The strength of Saptasagar Lodhati is definitely...
10:13 One is Hemant M. Rao, the director.
10:16 Because I don't think so anybody can tell a story like the way he...
10:21 Everybody is unique.
10:23 Similarly, Hemant M. Rao has his unique style of storytelling.
10:27 So, he is the main strength and he is the one who brings everything together and fits it into one bowl.
10:35 And I think the chemistry between Manu and Priya is just beautiful.
10:40 And that is what has worked with everyone who has watched the film.
10:45 And Advaita's cinematography is just beautiful.
10:48 Charanraj's music, since it is a poetic film, music becomes very important.
10:53 So, the music and background score is just mind-blowing.
10:56 And specially I should give special mention to Raja Krishnan sir who has done a beautiful sound design.
11:02 Because he is the one who gives you that immersive experience.
11:06 So that when you watch it in theatre, you just forget the world and just become part of Manu and Priya's story.
11:14 Nowadays, a lot of multi-stars are coming in different languages.
11:20 So, all the actors are clubbing for the Indian cinema industry.
11:25 So, if you are given a choice, are you ready for the multi-star?
11:30 Right now, I have a couple of films in pipeline which I have written.
11:36 I want to direct all of them.
11:38 So, probably once I finish them, I can think about anything other than those five subjects.
11:45 And out of that, in one film, there are chances of bringing actors from different industries.
11:52 So, that probably I might do.
11:54 So, if you are given a choice to pair with a multi-star, who would you like to act in Talibad?
12:03 I already have a project in mind for the subject I was telling you.
12:08 Where I want to bring stars from different regions to play different, to represent different regions in that story.
12:17 But I am not open to them yet. So, I won't tell you their names.
12:24 But someday, you will know when I make the film.
12:27 Very good. Advance congrats for that.
12:29 Thank you.
12:30 One thing I want to ask. It's a haunting moment when Puneet was suddenly disappeared for our lives.
12:37 So, how do you feel?
12:39 We miss him. All of us miss him.
12:42 He was the heart of Karnataka films.
12:50 Whenever somebody asks me to talk anything about Puneet, I define him as a beautiful heart.
13:01 So, he was a beautiful heart of Karnataka cinema itself.
13:05 And yeah, it's a great loss that we don't have him anymore with us.
13:12 Are you, in your Karnataka industry, is there any plans for the Puneet tribute?
13:21 From last few years, if you see, every film is dedicated to him.
13:27 Every trailer is dedicated to him.
13:30 You go to any corner of the state, you will see a banner on his name, even today.
13:39 So, everything what is happening right now is dedicated to him.
13:44 So, yeah, everything is a tribute.
13:47 So, finally, you are narrating the very feel-good stories and love stories and all.
13:55 So, is there any marriage plans?
13:57 I don't know. I will keep you updated.
14:03 Congrats.
14:04 Thank you.
14:05 Thank you. Nice talking to you.
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