Santhosh Balaraj takes a break from rowdyism subjects; heads to college with new film, Raw

Santhosh Balaraj, who got everyone take notice of him in the 2015 film Ganapa, recently launched his new film. Called Raw, the film will see Santhosh play a college student, which is in stark contrast to his earlier outings in underworld subjects. The film is being directed by Manjunath KP, who has worked as an assistant to filmmaker Ravi Srivatsa for a decade, and now turns director with Raw.

At the launch of the film, Santhosh said that he was intrigued by the narration by director Manjunath, as the story was unique and different from his films, be it Ganapa, Kariya 2 or his upcoming Berklee or Sathyam. “There is a good message in the story and my character has 2-3 shades in it,” he said, about the film, which will be shot in locations across Karnataka, mainly, Chikbalapur, Bangaluru, and Mangaluru in schedules spread over 90 days. The film will have two heroines, one of who is newcomer Riya, while the makers are on the lookout for a second leading lady to join the cast.

Meanwhile, Santhosh is also looking at wrapping up Sathyam, which was delayed owing to the pandemic. A pivotal sequence from the Kannada-Telugu bilingual was apparently scheduled to be shot at the Mangaluru airport prior to the pandemic, but permission was cancelled after an explosive device was found in its vicinity. Subsequently, the pandemic struck and the team has been waiting for a good time to resume shoot.

His home production Berklee, which pairs him with Simran Natekar, is ready for release, although the team is yet to figure out a date. A revenge thriller with an emotional tale at its core, the teaser of the film had some intense action sequences. The team had also released the lyrical video of a song called Bangari, a peppy romantic number, featuring Santhosh and Simran.