Upendra takes a liking to a Hyderabadi’s short film

Hyderabad-based short filmmaker V Jayashankarr has impressed Kannada superstar Upendra with his recently-released short film ‘The God Must Be Crazy’. Shot in four hours, the 18-minute short film – a conversational drama clearing doubts about the Supreme Being in a simple Q&A format – has clocked two lakh fifty thousand views on YouTube till now.

A self-confessed fan of the Kannada star and his directorials especially, Jayashankarr met him while he was in Hyderabad recently to promote ‘Upendra 2’. “Upendra sir’s stories are out-of-the-box and have found an audience. I’ve been wanting to meet him for the last one year. In fact, I went to Bengaluru last November to meet him but couldn’t,” said Jayashankarr.

Admittedly, Jayashankarr was bowled over by the way Upendra received him. “He was accommodative and very down-to-earth. I had a chat with him for nearly 30 minutes. He applauded the concept of ‘The God Must Be Crazy’, saying it was rarely discussed before. He was, in fact, happy with the way it ended. He even asked me if I have any novel idea for him. I couldn’t have asked for more.”

As an after-thought he added, “I told him I’m nobody to pitch an idea to him but he insisted to meet me in Bengaluru.” The conversation, he said, also centered on ‘Upendra 2’. “He said it’s a story about every individual and that he discussed a new philosophy in the film. He further said he’d be happy even if one individual changes after watching the film.”

By Nagaraj Goud