At least 45 per cent shooting of the film John Appa Rao 40 Plus is complete. The film is directed and produced by Kuchipudi Venkat under the banner of Black and Eight Act. Krishna Bhagawan and Simran play the lead roles. Director cum producer Venkat says, 'Our hero John Appa Rao's marriage gets delayed due to some family responsibilities. After completing all his responsibilities, he wants to marry. At age 40, can he get a girl to marry or not? What kind of problems he faces when he thinks of getting married? Answers to all these questions form part of the story.' The producer further says, 'Earlier, I directed Modati Cinema, but it did not fulfil my expectations. But I earned a good name for directing a good comedy track. So this time, I chose to bring out a complete entertainer. Already we have shot one song in Bangkok, plus some key scenes in Vizag and Hyderabad. We will complete the shooting of the talkie in the next schedule planned from October 2nd to 22nd. The remaining two songs would be choreographed in Australia and New Zealand.' Hero Krishna Bhagawan says, 'When Venkat told me that I would be the hero, I was shocked. I was apprehensive as I had never played the hero, not even on stage. I asked Venkat why he was offering me the hero's role as I am happy with my comedy roles. Then he narrated the story and I really felt that the subject would suit my body language and age. And I have known him for some time now. So Venkat prepared the story, keeping me in mind. Besides comedy, the film has sentiment and suspense. Simran is playing the role of a business woman from US, while I play the role of a costume designer.' Ali, Brahmanandam, Jeeva, Raghubabu, Benarjee, Kondavalasa, Sayaji Shinde, Melkote, Satyam Rajesh, Maruthi, Gauthamraju, Prabhakar, Apoorva, Pavala Shyamala, Ruthika, Aruna, Pruthviraj, Sudarshan and Appaji and others are in the cast. Music is by Kiran Varanasi, photography is by Samir Tahir, editing is by Gauthamraju, action is by Ram-Lakshman, choreography is by Shankar and Baba Yadav, art is by Ravinder; story, screenplay, production and direction are by Kuchipudi Venkat.