Rakshit Shetty on Richard Anthony: Recreating Udupi of the 60s and 70s a challenge; actors to be from coastal belt only

A year ago, when the media caught up with actor-filmmaker Rakshit Shetty outside the polling booth when he’d come to vote in the Karnataka State elections, he was rearing to write the final draft of Richard Anthony, for which he wanted some peace and quiet in the US. Cut to now, when he was yet again spoken to after voting in the Lok Sabha elections, Rakshit’s still working on a draft but is now closer to freezing it. Right now, it’s not the script that’s a problem for him.

Also read: Rakshit Shetty reposts old Ulidavaru Kandanthe tweets; Richard Anthony update on the way? 

Speaking to multiple media houses in Udupi, where Rakshit’s been camping for a while, he said that his team – the crew of Richard Anthony – would be heading to Udupi and full-fledged pre-production would begin on May 1. The shoot, though, will be spread across the western coastal belt, as Rakshit realised at his location recce that recreating Udupi of the 60s and 70s was going to be tough. The actor said that the kinds of locations he managed for Ulidavaru Kandanthe 10 years ago have also gone missing amid Udupi’s rapid transformation into a city.

Shooting Richard Anthony, he reckons, will, therefore, involve some level of travel, as the team will have to explore regions of the western coastal belt, including portions of Kerala, Gokarna and the Western Ghats. Sticking to one area for the entire film is not going to be possible, he said. As for the casting, this time around, Rakshit is hell-bent on only having actors from the Udupi region. Although there are good artistes from Bengaluru, the actor-filmmaker says that having actors who can speak the Udupi dialect flawlessly and rather naturally is a must-have criteria for his cast.

Also read: Exclusive! Rakshit Shetty reveals when to expect his next directorial, Richard Anthony 

Interestingly, Rakshit is still holding on to his 2025 promise of Richard Anthony, although he did not specify by when audiences can expect it. Speaking to OTTplay a few months ago, Rakshit had said he’d need a year and a half from start-to-finish, which would have meant mid-2025. Can he still stick to that deadline? Well, let’s hope he does, because Rakshit has an interesting line-up of directorial ventures planned thereafter, including a two-part Punyakoti, and Midway to Moksha (Subject to the availability of both Rishab Shetty and Raj B Shetty), and yet another collaboration with Hemanth M Rao.

Also read: 'Richard Anthony heroine?' - Rakshit Shetty & Srinidhi Shetty's repartee sparks interesting reactions 

Richard Anthony is a spin-off from Rakshit's directorial debut, Ulidavaru Kandanthe, which is available to stream on Sun NXT and OTTplay Premium. To be a prequel and sequel, delving into the life of his Ulidavaru Kandanthe character Richie, aka Richard Anthony, the film is a Hombale Films production. 

Fancy a rewatch of Ulidavaru Kandanthe? Subscribe to OTTPlay Premium's Simply South pack and catch it on Sun NXT. 

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