Toby vs Sapta Sagaradaache Ello: Raj B Shetty and Rakshit Shetty set up box office clash

In the Kannada film industry, the three Shetty’s – Rakshit, Rishab and Raj – are filmmaker-actors, whose every project is highly-anticipated for being well made and content rich. The second half of 2023 has not one, but two films by this gang – Raj B Shetty’s Toby and Rakshit Shetty’s Sapta Sagaradaache Ello – in theatres.

Two days ago, Raj announced that his next, Toby, which he has written, produced and plays the lead in, will be in theatres on August 25. Today, Rakshit has said that the first instalment of the two-part Sapta Sagaradaache Ello will release on September 1. While Kannada film aficionados and fans of the two actors are thrilled that two good movies are coming their way shortly, many also wondered why the two films are almost in competition by coming to theatres only one week apart.

“#toby and #sse in a gap of 1 week. Not a good thing when you have plenty of gap throughout the year,” wrote one user, while another highlighted this box office clash with a sad-face emoji, which several others also pointed out. Considering that both films are not major festival releases, netizens reckon that Sapta Sagaradaache Ello should have opted for a deferred date for the first part’s release.

What is interesting, though, is that according to reports, both Raj’s Toby, which is his ‘biggest’ film to date in terms of scale and execution, and Rakshit’s Sapta Sagaradaache Ello are being distributed by KVN Productions, so the assumption is that optimal screens will be allocated to both films on September 1. In fact, Raj’s Toby, we hear, is apparently a pan-India release in five languages, while director Hemanth has not yet confirmed if Sapta Sagaradaache Ello will also be dubbed in other languages. The second part of the film, which also stars Rukmini Vasanth and Chaithra Achar, will be in theatres on October 20.