John Doe trailer puts Arjun Das on a missing boy’s case

A sister and her little brother go out for dessert one evening in the John Doe trailer. When the boy disappears, a family newly arrived from Dubai turns to the police. The search draws in Chandru, the Kerala officer played by Arjun Das in his first police role. Sanchana Natarajan plays his Tamil Nadu counterpart.

Madhumita, who wrote the story and screenplay with Nicholas Chevaillier, places the investigation in Kurinji Medu, in the hills along the border between the two states. “Whatever the genre, human emotions are at the heart of my films,” she said when the team unveiled the trailer in Chennai on November 3. Das said he had already read the script and agreed to play Chandru when he learnt that Baahubali producers Prasad Devineni and Shobu Yarlagadda were making the film.

For Sanchana, the challenge of playing one officer opposite another was occasionally keeping a straight face. On her second film with Das, she said his habit of joking between takes could make it hard to play a serious scene. She worked about 35 days in a row and remembered how much she looked forward to going in each morning, particularly with so many women on the crew.

Srishti, who makes her film debut as Darshana, had an older connection to Chennai. It was the first city she flew to from Delhi and the first place she saw the sea. She told the audience that some of the first Tamil words she learnt were “Tamil theriyadhu” (“I don’t know Tamil”). Das recalled watching her use every break to practise her lines. The team was recording dialogue live on set, and he said she would get her lines in a single take.

Prasad traced the film back to a colleague who met Madhumita at a festival and heard about the script. Watching her earlier film KD together helped the producers decide to back her. Prasad described John Doe as Arka Mediaworks’ first Tamil film. Telugu was a possibility given the company’s background, he said, but Tamil felt right for the culture and setting of this particular story. “I can’t imagine anyone but Arjun in the role of Chandru,” he added.

Those hills made demands of their own. Production designer Ashwini Kale recalled roughly 38 days of filming around Kuttikkanam and Peermade, often in the rain. Two houses and the police station stood on three different hills. For cinematographer Preetha Jayaraman, the unfamiliar territory was underwater. A key stretch of the film had to be shot beneath the surface. Her team worked out the shots in advance, brought in trained scuba divers and gave the actors time to practise and get used to the conditions.

“Editing is rewriting,” said Vijay Venkataramanan. After two decades of working with Madhumita, he could start cutting while she was still shooting and send scenes back for her to watch. Niirav S, one of the youngest actors on set, said Madhumita patiently took him through his scenes until he felt at home. Zaara Vineet Chandhoke, who plays the missing boy’s sister, noticed how closely the camera, art and costume teams worked together. Designers Priya Karan and Priya Harie said they chose colours that could suggest a character’s state of mind while keeping parts of the mystery hidden. Mujeeb Majeed composed the music, with additional music by The Artist 404.

Archana Chandhoke plays Chandru’s mother. Das has called her his lucky charm ever since she hosted the ceremony where he won his first award for Kaithi. Badava Gopi, who plays her husband, spoke about a kindness that went back further. After his mother died in 2018, Madhumita called and asked him to come to Kerala to act in KD. He credited his old friend with helping him find his way back to work. Anupama Kumar said she hoped the film would stir memories that lingered after audiences left the theatre.

Madhumita saved an explanation for the red teddy bears handed out at the launch. Naan podhuma? means Am I enough? A parent can ask it as readily as an actor or a technician, she said. For Madhumita, the bear was a reminder that the answer could still be yes. John Doe opens in theatres on November 13.