After his National Award win, Rishab Shetty says OTT platforms do not buy Kannada films: 'We are forced to...'

Rishab Shetty, who won the Best Actor award for his sensational performance in the 2022 blockbuster Kantara at the 70th National Film Awards, on Friday said that he will not make ‘festival type’ films anymore because major OTT platforms don't usually buy Kannada content for streaming.

Speaking to PTI in a press meet after his National Award win, the actor-director said, "We premiere at festivals and win awards, but we do not get any platform for that. OTT platforms do not buy Kannada content, so we are forced to put it on YouTube channels. I am done with that. We don’t get any recovery from such films."

"Couple more are in the pipeline - Pedro and Vagachipani. I produced these films because they gave me everything. I wanted to give something back to it. I think I am going to see how it goes in the future," he added.

Kantara also won the Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment Award at the 70th National Film Awards. Rishab said he was neither expecting to win the award nor excited about winning it. "I just do my work, but Kantara’s win should go to every team member involved in it. I am just a face of it, but there were a lot of technicians who gave their best for the film. I want to thank the people on their behalf," he said. He also thanked the Kannada audience and concluded, "They are the ones who took the film to the pan-India platform."

Made in just Rs 16 crore, Kantara earned Rs 310 crore net in India and grossed Rs 408 crore worldwide, as per the entertainment tracking portal Sacnilk. After its thunderous success, Rishab and his team is working on the film's prequel titled Kantara: A Legend - Chapter 1. The upcoming film, which is written and directed by Shetty again, is planned to release next year in seven languages, which includes Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Bengali.

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