I'm attracted to negative roles: Rakshit

When he started his professional career, Rakshit Shetty was one of many engineers who worked in an IT company. But he soon started doing theatre and shooting short films and despite not doing any course in acting or filmmaking, today, Rakshit is an acclaimed actor, director and short-film maker. He speaks to us about his journey, and why he thinks he will lose his fan base with each movie that he does.Excerpts…
How did you go from being an engineer to an actor? After finishing my engineering, I began working for an IT company. While there, I got involved in theatre and also started shooting short films. After a while, I got in touch with people from the Kannada film industry through a social networking site that was popular back in the day. I took a break from work for four months, telling them that I wanted to pursue an MBA, and that is when I got more involved in theatre and films. I then decided that this is for me. I haven’t done any course in acting or filmmaking, but learnt everything by reading up on it.
Was being a director always part of the plan? When I came into the industry, I only wanted to be an actor. Before I got the offer for Simplag Ond Love Story (SOLS), I didn’t know if I would get a chance to act in a good film, so instead of waiting for an opportunity to come my way, I started writing a script and wanted to look for a producer so that I could direct the movie. I began writing Ulidavaru Kandante (UK) before SOLS happened. But then I got busy with SOLS and after it became a hit, producers were ready to back my directorial debut.
The film has made you the thinking woman’s sex symbol… (Laughs) I didn’t think about all that when I was writing the character or when I was acting it out. Women thought that I looked hot in the character, but it is because of the character and the things that I do in the movie. I carried off the look to some extent in the film, so the compliment feels nice. But I want to explore several different characters in each movie that I do, so the perception of the audience will keep changing. In Vaastu Prakaara, I play a crooked character who looks like the guy from (SOLS). In Rikki, I play a lover boy. I also keep changing my body in accordance to my characters. For example, I put on weight for Vaastu Prakaara, which I will be shedding again soon. So my appeal keeps changing.
What was it like working with Yogaraj Bhat? Did you pick up any tips on direction from him? Yogaraj works in a different way. As an actor, I learnt a lot. I feel that after working with him, I can work with anyone. Yogaraj makes it difficult for an actor. Personally, I like to prepare before going to the set, but Yogaraj believes in being spontaneous — he goes on set and writes the dialogues. I get the script only five minutes before the shot. He decides the shot according to the availability and location, but I believe in getting everything on paper and I hardly change anything once I’m on set. I don’t think I can make a movie like him.
Tell us about your role in Vaastu Prakaara… I play a boy-next-door who is very crooked. His father dabbles with vaastu, but he hates it. At one point, my character runs away from his village to a fictional country called Vaastania, where his uncle, played by Jaggesh, is a big shot. But once he goes there, he finds out that his uncle is broke, so they device a plan to take people for a ride by doing vaastu. My character realizes many things along the way, so it’s like a coming of age story.
What was it like working with Jaggesh? I’ve seen his movies since I was a child and he’s equally funny in real life; he keeps pulling people’s leg. I remember this one time when we were in Bern, Jaggesh sir was sitting near a huge fountain. There were some dogs playing with the water and suddenly Jaggesh sir started making sounds like a dog. All the dogs turned around and were trying to find this other dog. One of the dogs went near Jaggesh sir and he told the dog something. It was like the dog understood Jaggesh sir and he went away. I couldn’t stop laughing. He is very down-to-earth and helped me out a lot. He took extra care to ensure that I looked good onscreen and I learnt a lot from him, both on and off the set.
What about the movie that you will be directing Sudeep in? I am currently writing Thugs of Malgudi (TOM) and Sudeep is definitely on board; in fact I am writing it with him in mind. TOM is completely different from UK — UK was experimental as the narration was not in the linear format. TOM will be a more entertaining film and will be along the lines of Western cowboy films — a different genre that’s not been explored in Kannada so far. Cowboy films are not authentic in Indian cinema, since cowboys never existed here. My film will give a good reasoning as to why they are dressed up so stylishly despite being thugs. I am trying something new again. Sudeep approached me after UK and I thought that it’s a good opportunity as I can get a bigger budget and can explore bigger things. I will also be playing a small role in the movie, but it will be Sudeep’s film.
Is it hard to disconnect between being a director and an actor? It becomes hectic when one has to act and direct. When you direct, you need peace of mind, but when you are acting in the movie as well, you have to get to the set, dress up, put makeup on, get into character and then start calling the shots. So as an actor, it’s easier, because I know exactly what I, the director, want. But it becomes hectic for the director in me.
You once said that you stay away from stardom… You lose the freedom of writing when you get hit by stardom, since you have an image to keep up. As an actor, you have to stop exploring to maintain that image, but I want to explore more. It’s all about how you take success. I could have continued playing a rugged character (like the one in UK) to ensure that I don’t lose my fan base. When the same people see me in Vaastu Prakaara, they may lose the impression that they had of me from UK. I want to break the image I build with each movie that I do. Of course, I may not retain the same fan base.
What kind of roles do you want to play? I am attracted to negative characters. I want to play a range of negative emotions, like being mean, for example. Richie (from UK) and TOM both explore negative shades. I would also love to play Salman Khan’s character in Dabangg, Tom Hanks in Terminal or the sophisticated villain that Leonardo Di Caprio played in Django Unchained.