Raj B Shetty made Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye to steer clear of trying to make a big film

Years ago, as a graduate student in social work, Raj B Shetty was introduced to the idea of interacting with people at de-addiction centres, Alcoholics Anonymous and palliative care hospices. The setting of a hospice that deals only with end-stage patients, for whom there is no chance of recovery and, for whatever reason, cannot remain at home, to avail better emotional and/or pain management fascinated Raj back then. While patients at the hospice receive care and some form of treatment too, they are all aware that there may not be a tomorrow for them. What struck Raj about this is that by and large, most people live with a false sense of permanency. He used that and created two characters – Prerana, who despite the name does not have much inspiration in life, and Aniketh, a new enrolment at a hospice, whose vignettes of wisdom and insight takes her on a transformative journey.

Prerana, played by Siri Ravikumar and Aniketh, Raj’s characters, are the lead of the film Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye, which is releasing in theatres on November 24. Raj wrote the script of the film immediately after Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana to ensure that he does not fall into the temptation of creating another film that would be a big commercial hit. Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye, he says, was his attempt to break out of any such idea. In that process, he got to make a good and rather serious film and collaborated with a set of talented actors, he says. Besides the lead pair, the film also stars Balaji Manohar, Sandhya Arekere, Gopalkrishna Deshpande and JP Thuminad, among others.

Written as actress Ramya’s comeback vehicle, the role of Prerana went to Siri after the former chose to limit her part in the film to being its producer. A small film that Raj thought would be perfect for OTT, Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye, though, did not attract potential buyers, given that mainstream streamers that do buy Kannada films do so only after a theatrical release. Ramya addressed this apathy towards Kannada cinema during a media conclave and is now releasing her film in theatres through KRG Studios.

Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye: Ramya’s debut production to get theatrical outing after all