Kannada actor-filmmaker Raj B Shetty will make his official Malayalam cinema debut on May 23. Raj, who had released his last film Toby with a Malayalam dubbed version last year, is the antagonist in superstar Mammootty’s next, Turbo, directed by Vysakh. Ever since the trailer of the May 23 theatrical release came out, netizens have been going ga-ga over what they’ve seen of Raj.

Praise for Raj as Vetrivel 

“Raj B Shetty will be the talk of town after Turbo”, was one of the most commonly seen comments on social media, followed by others that included, “Mammootty and Raj B Shetty set to deliver a banger”, “Most underrated and underutilized actor of Kannada cinema”. Raj’s swag and screen presence found a lot of love, but fans added that the hope was that Vysakh and writer Midhun Manuel Thomas have a well-rounded character for him and not just a one-dimensional villain.

While the scene of Raj stepping out of a helicopter was reminiscent of Shivarajkumar’s introduction as Bhairathi Ranagal in Mufti, several netizens felt that the elevation that a Malayalam film was able to give the actor-filmmaker is something that directors in the Kannada film industry ought to take note of. Turbo, which has been produced by Mammootty’s Mammootty Kampany, is being distributed in Karnataka in its Kannada dubbed version by Raj’s Lighter Buddha Films.

Malayalam audiences began noticing Kannada filmmaker-actor Raj B Shetty after his second directorial, Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana. While that film got a lot of love, his next, Toby, although not as big as GGVV, caught their attention yet again, and got a dubbed version release in the state. Raj’s got a dedicated fan base in Kerala, which is why he’s not averse to the idea of doing films in Malayalam.

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