Raj B. Shetty – Kannada film actor, director, and screenwriter of ‘Ondu Motteya Kathe’

Raj B. Shetty is a budding actor, screenwriter and director of Kannada movies, who made an impressive debut through these three roles for the movie, ‘Ondu Motteya Kathe’. The movie released in 2017 was a blockbuster hit and also earned Filmfare Award for Best Film in Kannada. He later wrote the dialogues of the movie, Sarkari Hi. Pra. Shaale, Kasaragodu, Koduge: Ramanna Rai, and also appeared in films in lead role – Mayabazar 2016, Gubbi Mele Brahmastra, Ammachi Yemba Nenapu, Mahira, Katha Sangama etc. This extremely talented actor received success in short interval of time, and played lead roles in 6 movies in a row. Most of them were commercial hits.

Ondu Motteya Kathe – A short story plot later developed into a full-length film

Raj B. Shetty, born in Mangalore in 1990, was initially a radio jockey based in his hometown. Later he joined theatre and slowly started making short films. Ondu Motteya Kathe too was one such short film idea. When he approached director Suhan Prasad with the idea, he suggested to do as a feature film, and also expressed his willingness to produce the film. The duo joined hands with producer Pawan Kumar who gave final shape to the film, and Raj himself decided to do the lead role of the bald hero. The movie got overwhelming response from public, and he received more acting roles.  

 He signed a series of movies in lead role. Ammachi Yemba Nenapu was his next release, where he played the lead role. The film received rave reviews from critics. His next movie – Mahira, a thriller received negative reviews from critics. Gubbi Mele Brahmastra (2019), his next release generally received good reviews. He was also a part of 2019 anthology film, Katha Sangama, and 2020 hit comedy-crime film, Mayabazar 2016. He shared screen space with Achyuth Kumar and Vasishta Simha, and his parallel lead role of Kubera, a petty thief received warm response from audience.

Raj B. Shetty – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. He worked as an RJ at Big 92.7 FM in Mangalore, and had a brief stint in theatre and short films before moving to celluloid.

2. He initially worked on a Tulu film, which reached nowhere. After directing a few short films, Ondu Motteya Kathe was his first full-length movie.

3. Tulu director Suhan Prasad who co-directed Tulu movie, Rang marked his debut as a producer through hit film, Ondu Motteya Kathe. He set up film production company, Mango Pickle Entertainment which produced the film.

4. Ondu Motteya Kathe had two remade version releases in 2019 – Commercial hit Malayalam version Thamasha and box office failure Ujda Chaman. Ujda Chaman was compared to another movie based on the theme of baldness, Bala. Both released in 2019 with a small time gap, Ujda Chaman failed at box office while Bala was a commercial hit.

5. Makers of Ondu Motteya Kathe accused Bala of borrowing their concept. Later with the release of Bala, plagiarism of the plot proved to be a false.

6. Year 2019 saw so many movies based on the theme of baldness – Thamasha in Malayalam, Ujda Chaman, Bala and Gone Kesh in Hindi. Gone Kesh was the first one to have a theatre release. Though the movie received rave reviews, it was a commercial failure.

7. Kuvempu and Karanth are among his favourite writers.

8. During his childhood his grandma used to narrate him bedtime stories. It was one such incidence from his early life which drew him close to stories.

9. He completed graduation in social work.

10. He is one among those rare actors who got first break to films due to physical appearance. It was rarest too, to succeed in that role breaking all stereotype good looking heroes on screen.