Meet Aniketh, Raj B Shetty’s character from his next, Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye

Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye has been under the spotlight right from day 1. This is, after all, a Raj B Shetty directorial, with him in the lead. It was also, at one point, meant to be the film that would herald Ramya’s return to cinema. Then came news that Raj shot the entire film in all of 18 days and has already headed into post production. He’s been incommunicado since, surfacing only briefly on social media to provide glimpses from the film. First it was heroine Siri Ravikumar’s look from the film as Prerana and now comes Raj himself as the protagonist, Aniketh.

The film is Raj’s third directorial, after Ondu Motteya Kathe and Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana. He had pitched it to Ramya, and after agreeing to play the lead, once the script was finalized she thought it was a better fit for a younger and newer actress. Ramya told OTTplay that she gave it a lot of thought before bouncing off the idea with Raj, because she was letting go off a “very good role”. Raj also agreed with her eventually. He then suggested Siri for the role and the team took off to Ooty and Mysuru for the shoot.

Meanwhile, a few days ago, there was also news that the title, Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye, rests with filmmaker SV Rajendra Singh Babu, who has an unfinished movie by that name, starring the late Ambareesh and Suhasini. The title, he claimed, was derived from a hit song from one of his earlier films. At the same time, filmmaker BK Gangadhar also said that he officially holds the rights to the title, which, he said he would transfer to Ramya, who is producing Raj’s film through her Applebox Studios.

Fans of Ramya who were disappointed that she wouldn’t be a part of the film, however, got the news they were looking for when shortly after she announced that she’s making her comeback with Daali Dhananjaya’s Uttarakaanda instead.