The Ramoji Film City, which has found a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for its sprawling cine and entertainment complex, has everything from the make-believe rail gaadi to an airport, besides fabulous gardens, sets, theme parks and hospitality services. What it doesn't have is a beach. Well, director Jyothi Krishna didn't require a beach for the scene he was shooting for Sri Surya Movies, Jadoo, produced by his dad A. M. Rathnam.

A send-off scene was in progress when we visited the sets. Ravikrishna, the film's hero and Jyothi Krishna's real-life brother, is to leave for the US to pursue his studies. His close buddies and college friends — Ali, Suman Shetty and Venu — are at the `airport' to see him off. Ravi's expressions indicate that he is anxiously awaiting someone special. As the camera focuses on him, Tamanna enters greeting him with a big `hi' and has a gift for him as well. Cinematographer Karunamurthy tilts the camera and focuses on her. A second later, the lens covers all the actors.

"A Karate champion and a bright student, Ravikrishna is sponsored by his college and is leaving to the US for higher education. Both the heroines, Ileana and Tamanna, are his classmates. Due to some reason, Ileana is unable to bid goodbye to him. So she sends her wishes and a gift through Tamanna," reveals the director.

Jyothi Krishna studied film-making in U.K. and attended workshops in U.S.A to learn the intricacies before venturing into film-making. A number of young talents are working for the movie. "Karuna and Yuvan Shankar Raja are contributing a lot. We have a brilliant and committed team," says Jyothi Krishna. Like his first venture, Jyothi is making Jadoo too as a bilingual, in Telugu and Tamil. "In Tamil, the title is Kedi. In both the languages, the film has a common tag line - A Romantic Thief."

"Like a trickster, the hero plays a game of love with both the heroines, Ileana and Tamanna. It looks like a triangle love story but the climax has a surprise element." Jyothi Krishna adds that there are "no bad guys in the movie. Every character has a positive side. It's a violent love story too. In the second half there are a number of action scenes."

Jyothi Krishna has penned the story and screenplay while A.M. Ratnam wrote the lyrics and dialogues. "The high point in the story is that it strikes an emotional chord towards the climax. Not many know that I wrote the story for the Chiranjeevi starrer, Snehamkosam. It was a big hit both in Tamil and Telugu. A lot of people were surprised when they learnt that it was written by a 20-year-old youngster. I can assure that Jadoo has more such sensitive characterisations." As Jyothi Krishna talks about the film and his work, the unit is getting ready for a different scene. "We shot 80 scenes in as many locations," explains the director.

Ninety per cent of the talkie and a song have been picturised. "We'll finish the rest of the talkie part and the five songs soon. Yuvan's music has a fresh tone. The audio will be released in April," says Jyothi Krishna.  The film will be released in May and has Thanikella Bharani, Atul Kulkarni, Aditya and Sudha in pivotal roles.