Exclusive! Raj B Shetty surprised us by agreeing to do Rudhiram even though we had our doubts: Jisho Lon Antony

Kannada actor-director Raj B Shetty has been one of the most talked about artistes in the country the past year, being part of movies such as Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana and 777 Charlie. So, the announcement of his Malayalam debut, Rudhiram, has already got the audience excited.

In an exclusive chat with OTTplay, the film’s debutant director Jisho Lon Antony reveals more about the movie, which also has National Award-winner Aparna Balamurali, and how the team got Raj to sign a Malayalam film.

On the movie, Jisho, who has also co-written the script with Joseph Kiran George, tells us, “It’s a film that starts out as a survival drama and then evolves into a revenge drama. It doesn’t have a specific protagonist or antagonist. Every character is extremely good as well as bad; so, it depends entirely on the audience’s perspective.”

Further on the process of roping in Raj for the role, Jisho, who had previously assisted in three movies, says, “When we completed writing, we had thought of actors that we were familiar with and had also decided to approach them. But we wanted a performer to pull off this role. That’s how the idea of casting Raj came up. But the biggest question that loomed in our minds was that because he was a proven director and writer too, would we be able to convince him? Especially because this is a movie in another language for him.”

The team decided to approach Raj to narrate the story regardless. “Surprisingly, he decided to come on board. It’s a role that demands a strong performance and I am sure we will be able to see him do exactly that,” says Jisho.

Ask him if it’s a straight Malayalam movie and the director says, “Languages aren’t a barrier anymore. Films only have a visual language. We will be shooting Rudhiram in Malayalam, but later we will be dubbing it in Kannada, Telugu and Tamil without losing any of its essence. This film also doesn’t depend too much on its dialogues; the visuals play a more prominent role.”

The plan right now is to begin shooting the film early next year. “We have zeroed in on a few locations but it will all depend on the weather conditions during the shoot schedules as well. We will be finalising the rest of the cast soon. We are planning to cast actors, who the audience are familiar with, in roles they haven’t done before. There are also plans to cast newcomers,” explains Jisho, who had also worked in ad films.

The film will be produced by VS Lalan with Shabeer Pathan and Vincent Alapatt as creative and executive producer, respectively. Midhun Mukundan, who had scored the music for Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana and Rorschach, will be composing the tunes for Rudhiram.