Just Married’s Shine Shetty: Collaborating with Ajaneesh Loknath ensured that the film takes off and gets a release as well

Bigg Boss Kannada Season 7 winner Shine Shetty is finally ready with his first film as a leading man in Kannada. Shine is the protagonist in Just Married, which marks composer Ajaneesh B Loknath’s debut as producer. The film, which pairs Shine with Ibbani Tabbida Ileyali’s Ankita Amar, hits theatres on August 22, ahead of which OTTplay caught up with the actor for a quick chat.

“Just Married is my first Kannada film as leading man. I have done a lead role in Tulu long ago, in Kudla Café, which came out in 2016, I think. So far, I’ve been a part of 11 Kannada films, and the 11thone launches me as hero,” says Shine. It’s taken him a while to get to this point, adds the actor candidly. “The process to transition to mainstream roles has been going on for a while. I spent a couple of years in the hope that I will be a part of a certain film, but then that didn’t take off. Then Bigg Boss Kannada Season 7 happened and by the time I was done with the show, the pandemic hit,” he adds.

Shine had been roped in by actor-filmmaker Rishab Shetty to be a part of a film called Rudraprayag, but then the latter decided to drop this project and did Kantara instead. Shine had a minor cameo in Kantara, but in the time since Bigg Boss Kannada, he’s only been doing the odd supporting roles, like in Vijayanand, Bachelor Party, etc.

Shine Shetty: After Bigg Boss Kannada, i made the right choices, but...

The expectation, after Bigg Boss Kannada, was that there would be a flurry of activity in Shine’s career, as has been the case with other winners of the reality show. But it didn’t pan out like that for him. “By the time the pandemic settled down and things began to pick up, there were two other seasons of Bigg Boss Kannada. Having said that, after the show, I did get a lot of offers, and it was up to me to ensure that I choose the right one(s). In my case, even though I chose the right project to associate with, to my luck, it didn’t take off,” Shine says.

This was a setback which put Shine back at square one. “The first project I got after the pandemic was James (Puneeth Rajkumar’s last film). James and Kantara gave me some mileage and put me in the game, but it is Just Married that has propelled me to the next level,” he says.

When it rains, it pours, holds true for Shine, who will have another release in a few weeks’ time. “There’s a film called Nidradevi Next Door, in which I am playing the negative lead. That’s a film I did to break away from the kind of roles I had been doing. I am currently working on another script, which should take off shortly,” the actor says.

Normally, once the transition to leading man happens, actors tend to stick on and look at establishing themselves before going back to experimenting with roles. “That was the idea, but the release plans of films are never in the hand of an actor. Honestly, I did not think that these two films would hit theatres in such a short span of time,” Shine says.

The first thought that Shine had when Just Married was offered to him was that if a composer of the stature of Ajaneesh Loknath was excited about a subject so much that he also chose to produce it, there must be something in it.

“Although I’d met him at Rakshit Shetty or Rishab Shetty’s parties, I’d never had a personal connect with Ajaneesh sir. So when he called me with the offer of the role, it was a big thing for me. That apart, I figured that associating with him would assure me that the film would definitely go on floors and release in theatres as well, which you won’t get with every offer coming your way. I knew he’d spend according to what the script needs and give it its due in terms of the release as well,” Shine says.

FAQs

Q. What is Shine Shetty's claim to fame?

A. Shine Shetty is an actor who predominantly works in Kannada cinema. He debuted with the Tulu film Kudla Cafe. His claim to fame is that he won the 7th season of Bigg Boss Kannada in 2020. 

Q. Which is Shine Shetty's first film as leading man?

A. Just Married, produced by composer Ajaneesh Loknath marks Shine Shetty's first as a leading man. The film hit theatres on August 22, 2025.