Prashanth Shetty, known professionally as Rishab Shetty, is an Indian actor and film maker who primarily works in Kannada cinema. He is known for his critical and commercial blockbuster, Kantara, which he directed and also acted in as the main lead. He is the recipient of several accolades, including the National Film Award for Best Children's Film at the 66th National Film Awards for Sarkari Hi. Pra. Shaale, Kasaragodu, Koduge: Ramanna Rai.

Early life

Shetty was born on 7 July 1983 in Kadri neighborhood in Mangaluru City of Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka. He did his schooling from Kundapura in Udupi district, Karnataka and later joined Vijaya College, Bengaluru to pursue B.Com. He started his theatre journey by doing yakshagana plays in Kundapura. He actively participated in plays while studying in Bengaluru. He was appreciated for his work and success in these plays encouraged him to pursue acting as a professional career.

Film career

After his college, Rishab Shetty worked in several odd jobs like selling water cans, real estate and did hotel work while also parallelly trying his chances in movies. While working he also acquired a diploma in film direction from the Government Film and TV Institute in Bangalore. He started working in film industry as a clap boy, spot boy, assistant director etc. He met Rakshit Shetty while working in the industry, they became friends later on.

His first major role was in the movie Tuglak. He played a small role of a police officer in Pawan Kumar's Lucia and then played a key role in the film Ulidavaru Kandante, which was directed by Rakshit Shetty. Then in 2016, his debut directorial movie Ricky starring Rakshit Shetty released which received an average response at the box office. In the same year, he directed Kirik Party, which became an industry hit. After Kirik Party Shetty went on to direct Sarkari Hi. Pra. Shaale, the movie received a good response from critics and went on to win the National Film Award for Best Children's Film at the 66th National Film Awards.

He debuted as a lead in Bell Bottom (2019 film) which was a wellreceived Kannada movie of 2019. Rishab Shetty's major role after Bell Bottom was of Mangaluru-based Gangster 'Hari' in the film Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana released in the year 2021, the film was a commercial and critical success in which the performance of Rishab Shetty and Raj B. Shetty was widely appreciated by critics.

Kantara and national recognition

In 2022 Rishab Shetty collaborated with Hombale Films to release the movie Kantara which he directed and starred in. Kantara was the second highest-grossing Kannada movie of all time. Initially released only in the Kannada language and after receiving rave reviews and a massive box office collection, the movie was released in four other Indian languages. The movie garnered nationwide appreciation, with numerous movie critics lauding Shetty's performance as the protagonist.

Awards

• 2016- Won 2016 Karnataka State Film Awards-Best Family Entertainer for the movie Kirik Party
• Won 64th Filmfare Awards South-Best Director for the movie Kirik Party
• Won 6th SIIMA Awards-Best Director for the movie Kirik Party
• Won 66th National Film Awards-Best Children's Film for the movie Sa.Hi.Pra.Shaale Kasaragodu, Koduge: Ramanna Rai
• Won 2018 Karnataka State Film Awards-est Family Entertainer for the movie Sa.Hi.Pra.Shaale Kasaragodu, Koduge: Ramanna Rai

Facts

• He directed the 2016 Kannada-language romantic comedy film Kirik Party, starring Rakshit Shetty, Rashmika Mandanna, Samyuktha Hegde, and Achyuth Kumar. This film won Rishab Shetty the award for “Best Director” at the 64th Filmfare Awards South as well as the 6th SIIMA Awards.
• In 2018, he made a cameo appearance as Inspector Kemparaju (a police inspector in Mysore) in the Kannada language socio-political comedy film Sarkari Hi. Pra. Shaale, Kasaragodu, Koduge: Ramanna Rai. Rishab also served as the film’s director and got nominated in the “Best Director” category at the 66th Filmfare Awards South and the 8th SIIMA Awards.
• He brought to life the character of Detective Divakara (a wannabe detective) in the 2019 Kannada-language crime comedy film Bell Bottom. The film became one of the highest-grossing films of 2019.
• Alongside Thapaswini Poonacha and Rachana Inder, Rishab Shetty co-starred as Giri Honnavalli Krishna in the 2022 Kannada-language comedy-drama film Harikathe Alla Girikathe.
• In March 2023, Kantara (2022) was getting prepared to get released in Italian and Spanish languages as well. Before that, the film which was originally made in Kannada had already been dubbed and released in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Hindi, and English languages.