Rishab Shetty will not leave his karmabhoomi, Kannada cinema, behind for a career in Bollywood

Ever since his film Kantara became a massive hit, with its Hindi-dubbed version raking in close to Rs 100 crore of its Rs 400 crore business so far, Rishab Shetty has been besieged with questions about the possibility of him doing a direct Bollywood movie. The actor-filmmaker has always responded with a resounding no, adding that his priority lies with Kannada cinema.

Rishab was at the Times Now Summit recently, where he was in conversation with author Chetan Bhagat and actor Anupam Kher. During the session, Chetan asked Rishab if he was open to doing a Hindi film as an actor or director? Yet again, Rishab replied that all he wants to do is make Kannada films. “The Kannada film industry gave me a platform to become an actor, director and writer. Today, I am here, on this stage, and my film Kantara has got so much appreciation, because it is from the Kannada industry. If audiences from the Hindi belt or any other region find my Kannada films interesting, I will bring it to them in a dubbed version. There is no language barrier in cinema today and people are watching regional content as is. Kannada cinema is my karmabhoomi and I would like to continue working there,” he said.

Interestingly, it has not come to light that Rishab’s next project will be a sequel to his divine blockbuster. In a recent interview, actor Diganth, who was to join Rishab on a film called Bachelor Party, rued that he was going to miss out on that opportunity, as the latter has excused himself from the Rakshit Shetty production. Rishab apparently told the team that he will be busy with Kantara 2, owing to which his role is being re-cast. The actor-filmmaker and the production house, Hombale Films, are yet to confirm this development, though.