John Jaani Janardhan blends comedy with a social issue

Director Guru Deshpande is literally on pins and needles these days. His latest directorial, John Jaani Janardhan, was to have hit screens in early November, but had to be deferred in the last minute after the November 8 demonetization drive. He and his team have, since then, been monitoring the situation with an eagle eye to see if audiences have recovered well enough to step out and enjoy a few hours at the cinemas.This Friday, the film will be released across the state, and Guru says that it will be a fun ride for audiences. In a quick chat with BT, the maker of films like Raja Huli and Rudratandava tells us just what drew him to the project and more.
A FUN FILM
Both my earlier films, Raja Huli and Rudratandava, belonged to different genres and had varied settings. For instance, Raja Huli was a film set in a village, while Rudratandava was a revenge drama. What drew me to John Jaani Janardhan was that it was a youthful script that seamlessly blends comedy with a social issue. In fact, nearly 80% of the film is a laughter riot. The story revolves around the lives of the three protagonists played by Krishna Ajai Rao, Yogi and Krishna, and their characters capture the mentality of today's youth. Unlike old days, when a hero would be seen pining for lost love, today's youth is not like that and moves on with life. That is the kind of mood that we have replicated in the film.
THE CHALLENGE OF A
MULTI-STARRER
The three heroes apart, there are a bunch of pivotal cameos from actors like Malashree, Aindrita Ray, Gurunandan and Paavana, among others. The supporting cast has as many as 30 other actors ' something that the production team did not compromise on. Even for the smallest roles, we have known names onboard. For me, the challenge was in coordinating so many people at once and I looked at this project as an opportunity to tackle that. I could not have done it without the able help of my direction team, including my associates Mahantesh and Raghavendra.
NEW AVATARS FOR CAST
I worked on the look of all three characters and ensured that if people come across the stills or posters of this film, they will remember them to be from John Jaani... just as they do for Yash's pictures from Raja Huli. From their hair-dos, to facial fuzz and clothes, everything is new for the lead cast.
BEST TECHNICAL TEAM
John Jaani Janardhan is a result of team work and the contributions of people like music director Arjun Janya, cinematographer Santosh Rai Pathaje, choreographer Murali and editor KM Prakash have been noteworthy.