'Can I be part of a Kannada film some day?': Anupam Kher to Kantara fame Rishab Shetty

Rishab Shetty has certainly been commendable as an ambassador of Kannada Cinema over the past few weeks. The actor-director was invited as one of the chief guests at a recent high-profile media conclave that also included bestselling author Chetan Bhagat and veteran Hindi film actor Anupam Kher. Fielding questions from Bhagat about the recent upsurge of Kannada Cinema, Rishab spoke at length about his film, and its overwhelming success, and touched upon the several factors that aided his film Kantara along the way. 

One pertinent topic, which Rishab Shetty has already addressed in his previous few interviews, was the opportunities from other film industries that have come his way and whether he would be keen on taking them up. "Are you open to doing Hindi films as an actor?" asked the moderator, Chetan Bhagat, having previously probed Rishab about the prospective sequel film Kantara 2. "No, I want to do Kannada films," came Rishab Shetty's swift and straightforward response before he would go on to talk about the love that the Kannada film audience has showered on him, and how Kantara today is a bona fide global success only because of the initial support shown by his people back home. 

"However, if my films manage to get the same demand in future, I would love to dub them in other languages like Hindi - anyway, the language barrier hardly exists now. The Kannada Film Industry and the entire region of Karnataka are my karmabhoomi and I want to stay only there," added Rishab Shetty as he drew huge applause from the crowd.

Also Read:
Exclusive! Rishab Shetty: 'I belong to Kannada cinema and I will continue representing it' 

Soon after, Anupam Kher jumped in and posed a rather interesting query to Rishab. "But if an actor from outside wishes to do a Kannada film, are they allowed to?" he would ask, much to the amusement of the same crowd. Without flinching, Rishab confirmed that Kher is welcome anytime to be part of Kannada film and also that The Kashmir Files actor is one of his favourites.

"I have done films in many languages - Telugu, Malayalam, and even English but not Kannada so far. But I am very proud of your thought process, it's wonderful," said Anupam Kher to Rishab Shetty.

Kantara debuted on OTT recently, on November 24, amid tremendous fanfare and is currently one of the most trending topics on both social media and the host platform Amazon Prime Video.