'Avane Srimannarayana has allowed me to grow as a writer, filmmaker, technician, and actor'

The shooting of Rakshit Shetty's Avane Srimannarayana was finally wrapped up yesterday. Calling it the most exciting film of his career, Rakshit says, “Every film I have done so far has been more exciting than the previous one. Avane Srimannarayana tops the list and will be something special.”

The film, directed by Sachin Ravi, is jointly produced by Pushkar Mallikarjunaiah and HK Prakash, and the teaser is expected on the actor’s birthday tomorrow (June 6). Highly-anticipated ever since it went on floors, Rakshit feels Avane Srimannarayana is the stepping stone that will take him to the next league.

“I am saying this in terms of filmmaking and about my growth as a star. I am confident about the film. I have seen the rushes along with the team and I have watched Avane Srimannarayana a hundred times while editing. But you never know, it is the audience that decides whether it will work or not. Having said that, whatever the result, I feel this film has allowed me to grow as a writer, filmmaker, technician, and as an actor,” he says. 

Rakshit believes that Avane Srimannarayana has given him immense confidence to make the kind of films he wants in the future. “If not for Avane Srimannarayana, I would not have thought of making a film like Punyakoti now, and that has been a huge development for me,” he says. 

'Five years from now, every regional film will have a market throughout India '

Rakshit believes Kannada movies reaching out to viewers in other languages is a good sign. Even Avane Srimannarayana will be dubbed and released in four other languages — Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Hindi.

“Not every film can reach all kinds of audience. However, a good movie will travel everywhere. Even my upcoming film, 777 Charlie, is a universal subject, which can appeal to everybody. Cinema is a language in itself,” says Rakshit

The actor also feels that five years down the line, every regional film will have a market throughout India. “Some people would like to watch it in the dubbed language, while there are viewers who would want to see the original with subtitles. It doesn’t lose the essence either way. The bottom line is that the purpose of making a film is served when it reaches out to as many viewers as possible,” he says. 

‘My social media activity will now be handled by a team’ 

Rakshit, who has returned to social media, says he is present on these platforms for promoting films, keeping in touch with fans, and to know what’s happening around the world.

“I've always enjoyed keeping in touch with my fans, but it used to take a lot of time, and somewhere I got so addicted that I started checking every comment popping up, and it used to divert my attention. There have been positive and negative sides to it. Even before leaving social media sometime ago, I had a team handling my accounts, but that didn’t stop me from checking it. I wanted to get rid of that addiction and take a break. It has helped. Today, I  have a team to handle it, and after a year, I have also realised that I can stay away from it,” says Rakshit. 

Teaser shows a different shade of Narayana 

The teaser of Avane Srimannarayana gives little information about the film. The latest teaser shows a different shade of Narayana. “The last teaser was about a fraud hero. This one will be about how a fraud hero becomes a hero.”