Raj B Shetty, who has been redefining distinction between class and mass, is back

S Shyam Prasad | NT

Bengaluru: The promotions for Raj B Shetty’s latest film Toby began with the right earnest in a mall in Bengaluru earlier this week with the release of a poster.

Shetty has been teasing audiences with the images of a sheep till now. But when the poster landed, fans were in for a big surprise. The poster showed Shetty in an agonizing look, wearing a huge nose-ring. Violence was written all over the red-themed poster.

This led to the obvious comparison with his previous directorial Garuda Gamana Vrishaba Vahana (GGVV) which was a gangster thriller. Toby is directed by Basil Alchakkal, who has worked as an associate of Shetty before. This is Basil’s debut as director.

Shetty however put the comparison to rest by stating that the two films had little in common.

“The two films are vastly different. In GGVV, we avoided the usual mass elements you see in a commercial film like punchlines, elevation scenes etc. It was the content that was showcased realistically. Toby too has lots of content to offer but it will have all the commercial elements too,” Shetty said.

The film is scheduled to release on August 25. Raj’s first film as director, Ondu Motteya Kathe, was remade officially and unofficially in other languages. The remake rights of GGVV had huge demand. But Raj Shetty is not very keen on dubbing Toby into other languages.

“I am not saying I don’t want to release in other languages. We are releasing the film in Kannada and this is the home market for the film. We are presenting a Kannada film for everyone. Later, if there is demand for dubbing, we are certainly going to dub and release it,” he said.

Toby also stars Samyukta Hornad and Chaithra J Achar. TK Dayanand, who has penned stories for films including Bell Bottom has written Toby’s story too. The caption shared with the poster revealed details of the character.

It read, “The provoked sheep is a beast now. Toby has arrived; make way for the ‘Maari’”.

Shetty explained that it signified how even a docile animal like the sheep can become a beast when it is pushed to a corner.

The poster with the character of Toby wearing a nose ring is that situation in the film where the character transformation takes place. He clarified that the character does not wear a nose ring throughout the film.