Rishab Shetty, on his 43rd birthday, gave a classic clarification, stating that ‘Jai Hanuman’ is a Kannada film, not Telugu. He also spoke about the ‘chicken-and-egg’ situation in the Kannada film industry, questioning whether good films aren’t being made or if audiences aren’t watching them.
Sandalwood’s pan-India star, actor-director Rishab Shetty, celebrated his 43rd birthday in Bengaluru on July 7, 2026. He came with his wife Pragathi Shetty and their kids to meet and chat with the media. During this chat, he spoke about many things, including his upcoming projects.
One of the hot topics was the movie ‘Jai Hanuman’. Rishab gave everyone a shocker by saying that Prashanth Varma’s ‘Jai Hanuman’ is a Kannada film, not a Telugu one. When asked how, he gave a clarification in his own unique style. “We will never leave Kannada. Someone asked me, ‘Isn’t Jai Hanuman a Telugu film?’ I said no, it’s a Kannada film,” he shared.
When reporters pressed him on how a film with a Telugu producer and director could be a Kannada film, Rishab had a witty answer ready. “Yes, the producer and director of this film are from the Telugu industry. But the hero, that’s me, is from Karnataka. Both Lord Hanuman and I are from Karnataka… so this film is a Kannada film, isn’t it?” he said. This statement has now gone viral.
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On the question of which language ‘Jai Hanuman’ will be shot in, Rishab explained, “The Telugu people will speak in Telugu, the Kannada people in Kannada, and the Hindi people in Hindi. It’s a pan-India film that will come out in many languages. Dubbing has become very easy now. The director will shoot it in whichever language he feels is best.”
Rishab also commented on the current situation in the Kannada film industry. “It has become like a chicken-and-egg situation. Are people not watching because there are no good films, or are good films not being made because people aren’t watching? When a good film comes, people will watch. When ‘Su From So’ was released, everyone rushed to see it. JP Tumminadu is a new director. Except for Raj B, all the actors were new. People watched it because they liked the film. If a film with popular actors doesn’t do well, it simply means the film wasn’t good,” he said.
He didn’t stop there. Rishab also brought up other examples. “In Malayalam, ‘Vala-2’ came, and in Tamil, a film called ‘Youth’ was released. Even though they were made by newcomers, they collected 200 crores. More than the collection numbers, the fact that so many people watched is what’s important. Everyone says OTT is here. But just like TV, OTT is also becoming old now. Content is being made for it, and that will continue. The main question is what we should do to bring people back to the theatres. The theatre is the ultimate destination,” Rishab explained.
“If it’s a small-budget film, you can make one every year. But for a big-budget film, getting all the necessary things in place takes time. Along with acting in ‘Jai Hanuman’, I am also writing scripts for two other projects. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t. For ‘Kantara’, we wrote the story, shot the film, and released it all within a single year. A film has to happen; you can’t just force it. ‘Kantara-1’ is a film we *made*,” Rishab said, with a deeper meaning.
Rishab also revealed a secret. “The Kannada film industry is not nurturing its writers. We have been making this mistake from the beginning, and that’s why we are in this situation today. Writers from Bengaluru are now working in Mumbai. We don’t even know about them here. We are now starting to support writers. They will definitely contribute to our industry in the future,” he concluded.
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