‘I want everybody to watch ‘Joshelay’’

Actor, radio jockey and running enthusiast Vinayak Joshi set out to make ‘Joshelay’, a web series in Kannada with just Rs 65 in his pocket. More than the monetary aspect, he wanted to put together his experiences to make a product that would not only appeal to a large section but also motivate them.

“I have completed 73 films, worked with radio for eight-and-a-half-years and run almost 10,000km. I wanted to bring all three together and that’s how ‘Joshelay’ happened,” Vinayak tells Metrolife.
‘Joshelay’ will release on YouTube on September 17 and will show every Monday till October 30.

He points out that ‘Joshelay’ is a combination of many creative elements. “The narration is the old radio technique, the visuals come from my experience of having worked in films and we use running as a format. In real, I have run 500 km in 50 days. The sights I saw and the stories of the people I met that moved me have been captured in this series. There are seven episodes, seven songs and seven guest appearances. We have also had about 120 technicians and artists who have worked on this,” says Vinayak.

Vinayak informs that there are in all about 28 stories. “Among the people who I met was a man who had no arms but swam and another who ran without legs. Many such inspiring stories have been put together,” he adds.

“We also try to explore very abstract questions like whether you really require intelligence to lead a happy life. How does one harness one’s will-power to stand on one’s feet and achieve the impossible -- these are some of the things we try to explore,” he adds.

It’s not just the stories, even the music has been tweaked to suit the content. “Doss Mode has produced and composed all the tracks. It is a progressive album of 23 minutes with seven songs. The songs are a combination of electronic music with hard-core Kannada lyrics,” explains Vinayak.

About why he decided to release it on YouTube, Vinayak says, “Screens limit your reach. This is an idea that goes beyond Kannada. Language is just a medium. We want to reach out to people. I wanted everybody from an auto driver to a CEO to be able to watch this series,” Vinayak signs off.