'Jana Gana Mana', the second film in the combination of Vijay Deverakonda and Puri Jagannadh, is being made on a high budget. Recently, Puri said that 'JGM' is being made on double the budget of 'Liger'.
After watching 'Liger', the audience have given up on Puri. They are convinced that the director is still clinging on to stale tropes and routine characterizations. Already, memes are doing the rounds against 'JGM'. Knowing Puri's creativity on display in the last 10 years (barring 'Temper', whose story was not written by him), it would make complete sense to be skeptical about 'JGM'. What can be done to save the project? We guess here is what should be done to recast the 2023 release before it is too late.
Get writers on board:
Puri must onboard a new set of writers, preferably from Bollywood. He should ask the writers to redo whole scenes and come up with new versions. If he is the one who is writing dialogues, he should immediately set the dialogue papers on fire and assign the work to others. He can no longer think that Vijay D mouthing his lines loudly will make a difference. It won't.
Go for casting changes:
We know Puri has his preferences (like Getup Srinu, Ali, Vish and Makrand Deshpande in 'Liger'), but his idea of casting should undergo a radical change. He should stop believing that the audience are going to admire his actors if he makes them utter a couple of cuss words. This is not 2012 when 'Businessman' was deemed a cult classic.
Switch off loud patriotism:
Just because your hero screams "We are Indians" into the mic, the audience are not going to get goosebumps. The military backdrop of 'JGM' might tempt Puri to believe that screaming and shouting patriotism will deliver a box office hit. 'Major' was not loud. Try to adopt lessons from that movie and others like 'URI' (Hindi). Stop behaving as though your hero knows everything and he can lecture Indians in the name of patriotism.
Infuse a twist:
There is a 'twist' in 'Liger'. It pertains to Ananya Panday's character. Even kids don't call it a real twist. If you have written something of that sort in 'JGM', shred the script papers right away. Write a REAL twist.
Analyze the sound design, BGM of pan-India hits:
Go back to the drawing room first thing. Watch 'RRR', 'KGF 2' and 'Pushpa' with the sole motive of understanding the BGM and sound design in those films. See how SS Rajamouli and Sukumar tried to create authentic moods with the help of adept sounds. Analyze why they didn't go for loud RR or dialogue deliveries. If you want loudness, do it the way 'KGF 2' did'. De-Bollywoodize the music department. The songs in 'Liger' have not enthused the audience mainly because of multiple composers handling the songs. Get a Devi Sri Prasad on board and let him compose at least two mainstream songs.
Remove the romantic track:
This can be done easily. 'JGM' should not have a romantic track. Nobody is going to miss Pooja Hegde standing in front of Vijay D and flashing her curves. Nobody is going to miss Vijay D wooing Pooja in the old-fashioned Puri way.
