Sarkari Hiriya Prathamika Shaale: Koduge Ramanna Rai completed its 100-day run today, and director Rishab Shetty is on top of the world. "My previous film, Kirik Party ran for 200 days, but somehow Sarkari.. 's  completion of 100 days feels more satisfying," says the filmmaker, adding, "In the case of Kirik Party, the biggest advantage was that Rakshit Shetty had a large fan base. This film had no such advantage and yet became successful."

Sarkari... highlights the issue of the shutting down of Kannada medium schools. While it stars Anant Nag in a pivotal role, the film is headed by a host of child artistes, which meant that they didn’t have the kind of budget they had for their previous film. "Pramod Shetty and I literally ran around for loans during the film’s release. Which is why I consider Sarkari... a genuine hit. It just started with Dadda song, and we never hyped up the film. It was the audience who made this a hit. This is a best example to say ‘do the film’, and leave rest to the people to decide. Like Annavaru (Rajkumar) used to say, Abhimanigalu Devaru -- it is completely true," Rishab says.  

But the director always considered Sarkari..  a commercial film. "Even the producers I had approached thought it will be an experimental film, which would win awards. They say that success makes it easy for an actor and director, but in my case, this was not true. I had to put in a lot more effort for this than Kirik Party," he says.