Former underworld don Jedrahalli Krishna of Magadi Taluk, in the avatar of a social servant to the people, is shooting with tight security for his debut Kannada film 'Jedrahalli'. While several underworld dons, claiming to have 'reformed', have made cameo appearances in films, written scripts and even produced films, H M Krishna Murthy, popularly known by his gangster name 'Jedarahalli Krishnappa', or just 'JK,' will play the lead role in Jedarahalli, a film based on his own life. In 2002, JK, along with 215 other criminals, had taken an oath that he would not resort to crime directly or indirectly. The 'reform camp' was organized by the then police commissioner, H T Sangliana.

JK will follow in the footsteps of 'Agni' Sridhar, another former underworld don who turned writer and filmmaker. What's more, JK makes no bones of his links to his criminal past and is averse to using a pseudonym for the film.

"There are many people who change their names as they do not like the ones given by their parents," JK said. "But people who knew them before would continue calling them by their old names. What is the point in hiding the truth?"

JK reveals the film runs quite close to real-life incidents. "There are some fictitious scenes but that is just to blend the real incidents into the film. However, the film does not reveal everything about my life. It would take 15 to 20 movies to tell everything about my past." Director P N Sathya is not new to this genre of films but he believes tagging it 'just another gangster film' is unfair.

JK had a number of cases, ranging from murder to extortion, filed in police stations across the city but he was acquitted in most of them.