After spending more than a decade in the industry, Arjun Jandhyala is pleased that his dream of becoming a filmmaker is turning into a reality with his forthcoming film, Guna 369, starring Kartikeya Gummikonda and Anagha. “The story is inspired by true events that happened in Ongole, my hometown. We in fact, shot many scenes over there as well,” explains the director, who is thankful to his producers — Anil Kadiyala, Praveena Kadiyala and Tirumal Reddy for backing the project.
He further shares, “The film shows an ambitious youngster, who after completing his engineering, eventually turns into an anti-social element,” adding, “There’s also an emotional relationship between a father and a son, and this is what makes the script contemporary.”Revealing how the project happened, Arjun recalls, “When I started writing the character of the protagonist, I saw RX 100 starring Kartikeya. I felt his emotions were genuine and natural, and that he could perfectly fit the bill for my film.
Also, when I narrated the script to him, he was pleased to come on board.” Interestingly, before making his directorial debut, Arjun worked as an assistant director under Boyapati Srinu. However, he adds, “The challenge is to bring out my own creative side.” Arjun states that Karthikeya literally lived the character. “His pitch, the body language and expression were complete,” says Arjun, who shares the same family name as that of the late legendary director and screenwriter Jandhyala Subrahmanya Sastry.
Subrahmanya Sastry garu is our distant relative, perhaps that’s why even I became a filmmaker,” he chuckles.
