Rakshit Shetty (born 6 June 1983)[1] is an Indian actor and filmmaker working predominantly in Kannada cinema.

He debuted with the film Namm Areal Ond Dina (2010) and got his breakthrough with Simple Agi Ondh Love Story and further shot to fame with the cult Blockbuster Ulidavaru Kandanthe (2014) and further established himself as a lead actor in Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu (2015), Kirik Party (2016), Avane Srimannarayana (2019), 777 Charlie (2022), and Sapta Saagaradaache Ello – Side A (2023), with 777 Charlie becoming the highest-grossing film of his career.

During his schooling days he was an avid Pili Nalike dancer, a folk dance in the Tulu Nadu region.

[8][9] Shetty made his acting debut as a parallel lead with Nam Areal Ond Dina (2010) directed by Aravind Kaushik.

He essayed the role of Raaghu, an angry young man and garnered positive reviews from critics for his performance.

[14] Following this success, Shetty debuted as a director and screenwriter neo-noir gangster film Ulidavaru Kandanthe (2014).

[18] Shetty began the year 2015 by teaming with the popular commercial director Yogaraj Bhat for the satire comedy film Vaastu Prakaara, co-starring Jaggesh.

[21] In 2023, he starred in Sapta Sagaradaache Ello directed by Hemanth Rao and co-starred Rukmini Vasanth.

Shetty began dating his co-star Rashmika Mandanna during the making of Kirik Party, and the couple got engaged on 3 July 2017 in a private ceremony in her hometown of Virajpet.

[29][30] Shetty is a recipient of three Filmfare Awards South — Best Director – Kannada for Ulidavaru Kandanthe (2014), Best Actor Critics – Kannada for Kirik Party (2016), and Best Actor – Kannada for Sapta Saagaradaache Ello – Side A & Sapta Saagaradaache Ello – Side B (2023) Also received State Award For Ulidavaru Kandanthe [31][32] Lahari Velu, the director of Lahari Music, had accused his banner Paramvah Studios of copyright infringement when his film Kirik Party was due for release.

Paramva Studios and the film's music director Ajaneesh Loknath also filed a copyright infringement complaint.

The court's ruling on August 12, 2024, was clear: Rakshit Shetty and Paramvah Studios must pay Rs 20 lakh as compensation to MRT Music for the unauthorized use of their songs.