Kannada film team recalls meeting ‘Psycho Shankar’

Late last year, director Punith Arya’s film Psycho Shankara gave audiences a glimpse into the story of the notorious criminal Jaishankar, known by the same name. Punith had explored the case from the viewpoint of those affected by Shankara’s crimes, but given that the mass murderer recently allegedly committed suicide in his jail cell at the Parappana Agrahara, one wonders if the team had met him before making the film.“When we decided to make our film, we spoke to a few police officers who had met or interacted with Jaishankar, and were told that he never spoke to anyone at the jail. Even then, we went ahead to see him and what we saw was a man who refused to speak to us. My intention was to study his body language and how he conducted himself in the jail. The first impression that we got, though, was not of a man imprisoned for heinous crimes of rape and murder. He actually came across as someone you would feel sorry for. But then, we knew what he had done and was capable of doing and returned,” says Punith.