Rakshit Shetty has surprised the trade pundits in Gandhinagar. His last release, “Kirik Party” has taken the box office by storm in Karnataka. Released in limited screens, the film has collected the same amount as the Top 4 (Yash, Sudeep, Puneeth and Darshan) collects in first week. Not only in Karnataka, the film has done excellent business in Chennai, Kochi and Gulf, when it released.
The success of the film can be attributed to one man- Rakshit Shetty. The star has acted in many successful films, however the box office collections of the film were not in range of big blockbusters of Sandalwood. But “Kirik Party” has changed everything. Rakshit Shetty has finally entered the top league of actors. The advantage which Rakshit has is that he has a fan following, which is very different from other heroes. He has fans, who only watch his films in Kannada. This is the reason, why trade pundits are calling him “Aamir Khan of Sandalwood”.
Aamir Khan has a unique fan following in Bollywood. He has fans, who wait for his film and watch only his films. Rakshit has this kind of fan following in Karntaka. Speaking about this, Manoj, a manager of a popular single screen in Bengaluru says, “The success of this film is unexpected. The film is doing better than “Dangal”. The crowd has gone crazy over this film. No one expected the film to do so well. It was expected to do well, especially among youth, but more than the youth, it is family audience who are coming to watch this film. It is going very strong at the box office and looking at the trends, we can never say where it may end up.”
“He has got huge fan base, who only wait for his films. He did not get these fans overnight. It has been a struggle. He believed in his work. I think the turning point in his career is “Ulidavaru Kandanthe”. Even though the film did not do well in box office, it gained him a huge fan following,” he adds.
Jabaneesh, a Keralite, working in Tesco, MNC in Bengaluru says, “I am from Kerala. I have been working in Bengaluru since six months. I came to know about Rakshit Shetty, when Nivin Paul started to act in Tamil version of “Ulidavaru Kandanthe”. I wanted to catch the film and saw the film on DVD. I was very impressed with the film, especially the way it was shot. I always thought that Kannada films were technically poor. However, “Ulidavaru Kandanthe” proved me wrong. I have been following all Rakshit’s film on DVDs. When “Kirik Party” released, I watched the film along with my Kannadigas colleagues in multiplex. The film was really good. I saw many people, who did not understand the language, watching and enjoying the film. I have already watched the film thrice and am referring it to my friends in Kerala.”
After success of “Simple Aagond Love Story”, he could have easily acted in films that could fetch him good money, but it was not so with Rakshit. He took risk and directed “Ulidavaru Kandanthe”. The film failed at the box office, but still he did not take the easy route and acted in films like “Vasstu Prakara” and “Godhi Banna Sadharna Maikattu”, which are not conventional commercial films. ‘Kirik Party’ is truly a throwback for his hard work and conviction.
Rakshit Shetty is making all the right buzz in Sandalwood. Starting from scratch and with Godfather, this Coastal boy has treaded most difficult path to reach the point where he is now being titled as ‘Aamir Khan of Sandlwood’.
RAKSHIT’S JOURNEY IN SANDALWOOD
Born in a well to do family in Udupi, Rakshit Shetty was excellent in academics and did his engineering. Even though he was secured financially and had a family business to bank upon, he decided to chase his dreams in film industry. He made his debut as lead hero in “Tughlaq”. The film did not do well. However, he tasted commercial success with “Simple Aagond Love Story”. He could have played it safe and acted in similar type of films. However he did not do so. He acted in and directed “Ulidavaru Kandanthe”, which was being considered as cult classic. He was later seen in films like “Vaastu Prakaara”, “Ricky” and “Godhi Banna Sadharna Maikattu”. “Kirik Party” is already his biggest box office success. He has not confirmed his next. He will also don director’s hat with “Thugs of Malgudi”, which will star Kiccha Sudeep in lead role and is said to be a tribute to legendary Shankar Nag.
