‘John Doe’: Why director Madhumita wanted to move beyond feel-good films
The filmmaker, whose ‘John Doe’ is set to release this week, reflects on self-doubt and finding her way back to cinema
Once a disheartened filmmaker, Madhumita has found her stride in a genre she once deemed unwelcoming. After a failed 2015 film, she left the Tamil film industry to join a corporate firm, only to return in 2019 with a hit comedy drama, KD Engira Karuppudurai. However, her ambitions extended beyond feel-good films, leading her to write the psychological thriller John Doe, initially titled Sleep Tight.
Set in Tamil Nadu-Kerala border hill stations, the film explores a missing child's case, delving into the 'why' of the crime, rather than merely glorifying it. The story, penned during the COVID-19 lockdown, is a departure from Madhumita's usual fare, aiming to challenge herself and her audience. Her co-writer, Nicholas Chevaillier, and Madhumita herself emphasize the importance of the emotional core in their work, believing it to be the key to understanding characters and subjects.
Arjun Das and Sanchana Natarajan portray the leads, with the film scheduled for release on November 13. The promotional meet for John Doe featured an unusual gift: a red teddy bear with an imperfect stitch, symbolizing the film's existential question, 'Naan Podhuma' (Am I enough?).
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