‘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

Published - November 10, 2026 01:19 pm IST

Arjun Das and director Madhumita on the sets of ‘John Doe’ | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

There was a time in director Madhumita’s life when she felt she didn’t have it in her to succeed in cinema. It happened sometime in 2015, a few weeks after the release of her Moone Moonu Varthai, which did not click at the box office. Disheartened, Madhumita packed her bags and went to Mumbai to join a corporate company, bidding goodbye to directorial dreams.

Even as she worked the corporate ladder, she wrote a village-based slice-of-life story of an old man’s friendship with a young boy.

Titled KD Engira Karuppuduraiand released in 2019, the comedy drama changed her life overnight.

“It was magic. So many people thought that it was my first film; I had to remind them that I had done films before that too,” she laughs.

Offers poured in to make ‘similar films’ — she, in fact, subsequently took up the opportunity to remake the film in Hindi with Abhisekh Bachchan (Kaalidhar Kaapata) — but Madhumita wanted to move beyond that comfort zone. “It is a stereotype that women only make good rom-coms and feel-good films. Producers would specifically ask me for such subjects.”

That’s when the script for John Doe, initially titled Sleep Tight, came to mind. She wrote the psychological thriller during the COVID-19 lockdown along with co-writer Nicholas Chevaillier. “The fun in filmmaking is to challenge yourself by taking on different genres,” adds the director, who was also behind recent romance series, Love Always.

Her John Doe, which hits screens on November 13, features Arjun Das and Sanchana Natarajan in lead roles and tells the story of how cops crack the case of a missing child. Set in hill stations on the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border, it is “more than a whodunit”, says Madhumita, who grew up reading Agatha Christie and Harlan Coben novels. “While John Doe is a whodunit, it will delve into the why of the crime. I feel cinema sometimes glorifies crimes. It is made to look cool and fascinating, but at the end of the day, any crime hurts a bunch of people. For John Doe, instead of using crime as a tool, I have tried to weave it into an important story that can happen to anyone. I believe that the emotional core is the most important aspect of all films, which will help us understand the characters and the subject better,” states Madhumita.

On set, Madhumita is a bit of a workaholic, something that all actors vouch for. Mention that to her, and she says, “My editor once told me that I stress too much on the final product rather than the journey of making the film. That advice was life-changing. Since the filming of KD, I have started enjoying the process — of waking up early, going to sets and working on the scenes for the day. When you enjoy going to set as a director, positivity rubs off on the cast and crew as well. This makes every single day of shoot enjoyable,” says the filmmaker, who is currently working on the post-production of the Hindi adaptation of the Malayalam hit Angamaly Diaries and will start filming her next, a hostage drama, in early 2027.

John Doe’s recent promotional meet grabbed attention when the makers gave the team an unusual gift: a red teddy bear. “If you looked closely, the bear is imperfect; it has a few strings hanging loose,” she explains, citing that the gift actually symbolises a song in the film — ‘Naan Podhuma’ by The Artist 404. “This existential question — ‘Naan Podhuma’ (Am I enough?) — is something everyone keeps asking themselves, irrespective of who they are. I keep asking myself this. The teddy bear is a way of telling yourself that you are absolutely good enough, beyond all your flaws.”

Published - November 10, 2026 01:19 pm IST

The Hindu MetroPlus / Chennai / Tamil cinema

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