“Behind every mask, there is a face and behind that face lies a story. This is...my story.”
This is how the trailer of Run Antony begins. Slick and engagingly cut, the trailer, on its own, has generated a lot of curiosity already.
To add to it, the film is Vinay Rajkumar’s latest and more importantly, the next in the season of debuts in Kannada cinema after Hemant Rao’s Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu .
With Run Antony , which is slated for release this week, Raghu Shastry will make his directorial debut. “This is the right time for new age films in Kannada,” says Shastry, who began his career with ad films.
Shastry’s career thus far has made pitstops with interesting filmmakers. Back in 2006, he attended a script writing workshop and was chosen to assist and work as a script writer for filmmakers such as Vishal Bharadwaj and Anurag Kashyap. When he moved back to Bengaluru, he continued to work as a writer for media houses. He even worked as a lyricist for Pawan Kumar’s Lucia . And before he sat down to make Run Antony , Shastry produced and directed films for a YouTube channel called Jump Cuts.
It is his work on this channel that was noticed by Vinay Rajkumar, the grandson of Dr. Rajkumar and son of Raghavendra Rajkumar. “Vinay asked me to meet him sometime last year and we were discussing potential story ideas for him. He liked one particular idea and that is how Run Antony came to be,” says Shastry.
When asked what Run Antony is about, Shastry says that he doesn’t want to reveal too much. “Let us just say it is a film that puts the focus on an individual’s actions. It foregrounds the individual instead of making him a victim/product of other forces, especially those of religion,” he explains.
What is Antony running from? “Interestingly, someone asked this question to Vinay at a recent press conference. Vinay said Antony is running to discover himself. I think I could not have put it better,” he says and adds that he would slot the film in the category of a love story even though the trailer has all the underpinnings of a thriller.
While it is a good time for newcomers in the industry, Shastry confesses that it would have been difficult to make Run Antony if not for the backing and support he got from Raghavendra Rajkumar. “Vinay told me that Raghanna wanted to meet me too. And it was with Raghanna that I sat and finalised the cast. We then conducted workshops with the team. I was particular that I have a cast of newcomers for this film.”
What does he think of the industry today? “Well, we are headed in the right direction. But we are still only discussing, say four films from a bunch of 40 that are being released. We need all 40 to become worthy of a discussion. And for this, a number of things have to change. Even today, for many aspects of film production, we are forced to step out of Karnataka. Some of the technicians work only in 10-6 shifts. It is not a government job. We need more technicians who are passionate about their job. The ‘no’ has to change to a ‘yes’, when we approach people in the industry,” says Shastry.
Run Antony too will follow the likes of films such as RangiTaranga and Thithi which released first in a few theatres and then increased shows. “We are competing with Sultan which is releasing in over 300 screens across Karnataka. So we will first release in 100 plus screens and then hope the response from the audience will take the film forward.”
