Did Rakshit Shetty just make a veiled jibe at THIS Kannada actor-filmmaker?

In the last couple of days, Rakshit Shetty has been in Hyderabad to promote the release of his next, Sapta Sagaralu Dhaati Side A, the Telugu-dubbed version of Sapta Sagaradaache Ello Side A. People Media Factory is releasing the Telugu version on September 22. One of the topics that Rakshit has been addressing in his media interactions is the fact that Sapta Sagaralu Dhaati, and its Kannada original, are not for all sections of audiences. It’s a film for a niche audience that likes and appreciates intense love stories with slow narratives. The story is, after all, not done yet, with the second half set to release next month as Side B.

Read: Rakshit Shetty: I’m aware that Sapta Sagaralu Dhaati will work only for a section of audiences

Talking about the reach of his film with a particular sub-sect of audiences, Rakshit explained that the reason SSE/SSD’s promotions were relatively sober, compared to, say, 777 Charlie, is because the film had to be seen and appreciated by its core audience, following which, word-of-mouth positive publicity would spread. Prior to the release, Rakshit, who is also the film’s producer, had planned that two songs with lyrical videos and a trailer would be all the material that the team will share with audiences.

Read: Sapta Sagaradaache Ello Side A review

“If you project a film in a certain way and make big publicity, all kinds of audiences, including those who you are not catering to will come to watch it. But then, because it is not their kind of film, the word-of-mouth publicity will be very mixed. We didn’t want that; we only wanted the audience that will like our film to come to theatres after seeing our trailer,” said Rakshit in an interview with a Telugu digital channel. Interestingly, Rakshit’s observation about a film being projected a certain way and, thereby, misleading audiences was the exact feedback that Raj B Shetty’s Toby got not long ago. Raj’s film was marketed as a massy spectacle that would be bigger and have far more whistle-worthy moments than Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana. When the film came in theatres, though, it turned out to be an emotional revenge saga involving a father-daughter relationship, the narrative of which was thought to be slow in establishing the dynamics between this duo and the people around them.

Raj, who is releasing his film in Malayalam tomorrow, has, since, changed his promotional tactics, which makes one wonder if Rakshit’s comment was a veiled jibe at his 777 Charlie collaborator. What do you think?

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