Janardhan Chikkanna on Agnyathavasi: Hemanth never forced his creative decisions on me

Kannada filmmakers Hemanth M Rao and Janardhan Chikkanna have been friends for a long time, even before the latter made his directorial debut with Gultoo . In fact, Janardhan often turned to Hemanth as a sounding board, every time he had a doubt during the making of Gultoo. But when Janardhan then went to Hemanth to talk about a story he’d come across and was looking at directing, their relationship took on a more professional dimension, albeit one that hinged firmly on respect for each other’s process.

In a discussion with Kannada Filmy Club about collaborating with Hemanth as producer, Janardhan revealed that the Sapta Sagaradaache Ello maker was quite hands off, providing feedback only when asked. “We never had creative clashes during the making of Agnyathavasi. It was a very good environment to make this film. Hemanth was acutely aware of his boundaries as a producer and was hell-bent on not over-stepping it. We strictly worked as director and producer. I did not take advantage of my friendship with him and he didn’t enforce his ideas on me either. We were very clear about our duties in making this film,” said Janardhan.

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There were times when Janardhan went to Hemanth to ask him his take on certain aspects of the filmmaking and the latter was very clear even while giving suggestions that it was entirely up to the director whether to take it or leave it. “Hemanth never once tried telling me that if it were up to him that he would have done it differently or anything to that effect. When in doubt, we had healthy discussions and the best part about Hemanth is that he’d look into the reasoning behind any creative decision and if there was a rationale behind it, he’d go ahead with it,” added the director.

Having said that, Janardhan adds that there have been a few inputs here and there, which came only when the director’s logic behind something was not solid. “On the whole, though, it was a great environment to work and express my creativity,” he said.