Reformed don, politician and filmmaker Muthappa Rai owns an estate in Sakleshpur, which, despite its luxurious amenities ' including five-star level living quarters for guests, among others ' is not open to the general public. In fact, the estate is very heavily guarded. But Kannada film audiences will get a sneak peek into the property when filmmaker Hemanth Hegde's film Sa opens in theatres shortly.
'Muthappa Rai is a dear friend and I have been to his Sakleshpur property earlier. When I was scouting for locations for Sa, I remembered his estate and when I requested permission to shoot there, he said yes, but added that he will never again open his doors to other filmmakers. We shot extensive portions of the film at the property,' says Hemanth, who also stars in the film, along with J Karthik, Vijay Suriya and
Samyukta Hornad, among others.