Bangalore boy to debut in Bollywood

Riding high on the success of Ajay Devgn-starrer Drishyam, Bengalurean Vignesh Shetty is the creative producer of the film. Even as he has couple of projects lined up as part of Kumar Mangat Productions, he is scripting a suspense crime thriller for his directorial debut which is likely to happen by next year.
Speaking to BM, 36-year-old Shetty said, "I am currently scripting and if everything falls in place it should be on floors by next year.For me the story is important and hence at this point, I am not considering any actor. Casting happens in the second phase and I strongly believe that it should not come in the way when one is writing a script," he said.
Shetty has also worked as an associate director and assistant director in films like Taxi No. 9211 and Kyun Ho Gaya Na. He grew up in Bengaluru and studied in St Joseph's Bengaluru and Sheshadripuram College. He completed his Bachelor's degree in Business Management from MS Ramiah College.
"My friends kept wondering how an ordinary boy could chase Bollywood dreams. I have no relative in the industry. Post BBM, I joined Xavier's College, Mumbai for Post graduation in Advertising. I finished my course and I worked on many television commercials. That was my first working experience. I used to watch movies from across the world and in all languages. After 3-4 years in advertising, I thought the next step should be filmmaking."
"The grammar of ad filmmaking and filmmaking are the same, it is just that film making is a longer form.Both are about good storytelling," he said.
Warner Bros offered him to head their Hindi film division. He took creative calls there. "I went on to be a corporate guy for three years," he said.
He then got an opportunity to interact with Ajay Devgn and Kumar Mangat and joined them. "We currently do 4-5 films a year. I select scripts, directors and I am involved in every department be it locations, costumes, music, editing and so on."
Speaking about Drishyam, he said, "It was a great experience as this movie is probably one of the best thrillers in Hindi. The shoot began in March and by May it was complete. We have four to five projects lined up. This includes Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2, an October release, there is a romantic comedy of an adult couple called Good News, a horror film lined up and another film with Ajay Devgn probably next year."