Panjaa
Panjaa | |
---|---|
Directed by | Vishnuvardhan |
Screenplay by | Rahul Koda Vishnuvardhan |
Dialogues by | |
Story by | Vishnuvardhan |
Produced by |
|
Starring | |
Cinematography | P. S. Vinod |
Edited by | A. Sreekar Prasad |
Music by | Yuvan Shankar Raja |
Production companies |
|
Distributed by | Sri Venkateswara Creations |
Release date |
|
Running time | 156 minutes |
Country | India |
Language | Telugu |
Budget | est.₹33 crore |
Box office | est.₹15 crore[1] |
Panjaa (transl. Claw) is a 2011 Indian Telugu-language action film[2] directed by Vishnuvardhan and produced by Arka Media Works and Sanghamitra Art Productions. The film stars Pawan Kalyan, Sarah-Jane Dias, Anjali Lavania, Jackie Shroff, Adivi Sesh and Atul Kulkarni. The plot follows Jai, a gangster's loyal henchman who is forced to go on the run following a botched mission and killing his boss's son for committing a violent atrocity.
The film features music scored by Yuvan Shankar Raja and cinematography by P. S. Vinod.[3] The film marks Dias' debut in Telugu cinema and Lavania's film debut. Vishnuvardhan, who works primarily in the Tamil cinema, also makes his directorial debut in Telugu.
Principal photography of the film commenced on 6 May 2011. The filming took place primarily at Kolkata, Pollachi, Karaikudi, Vagamon and Palasa. Panjaa was released theatrically on 9 December 2011.
Upon release, it received mixed-to-negative reviews from both the critics and audience, alike. The performances (especially of Sesh's and Shroff's), songs, cinematography, action sequences, and production design were praised. However, the direction, story, screenplay, background score, and pace were highly criticized.
The film is now considered an underrated Telugu film, of the recent times.[4][5] The film was moderately received by the international audience, but it could not make an impact at the Indian box office.[6][7]
Plot
Jai is a
Apart from his gangster life, Jai also owns a nursery where he raises variety of plants along with his friend Chotu. He also appoints a plant caretaker Sandhya. Jai soon starts hanging out frequently with Sandhya trying to keep his criminal life from her as he develops feelings for her. One day Munna mistreats the accountant Sabapathy and humiliates him by urinating on Sabapathy in front of the latter's neighbors. Receiving no support from Bhagavan, Sabapathy joins Kulkarni's gang, making Bhagavan order Jai to kill him. As per the plan, Jai kidnaps Rahul, the son of Kulkarni's brother Sampath. He asks Guruvayya to hold Rahul hostage at a club until he is back with Sabapathy. Jai demands a meeting with Sabapathy in exchange for Rahul's freedom. Sabapathy tells him he switched sides not to retaliate, but to protect himself. Munna, on the other hand, visits the club and is attracted to club dancer named Jhanvi and inquires about her in the club. Learning from Guruvayya that she loves Jai, Munna is enraged and kills Rahul after he teases him for being an incel and kills Kulkarni's henchman, who came to pick up Rahul.
When Sampath and Kulkarni receive no response, Jai tries to escape, and a chase ensues. He manages to flee but is shocked to learn of Rahul's death. Munna finds Jahnavi at Jai's house and beats her to death. Jai arrives and gets into a fight with Munna. Guruvayya sees Jai kill Munna and reports him to Bhagavan. Jai decides to tell Bhagavan the reason behind killing Munna, and is on his way attacked by the henchmen as per Bhagavan's orders. Following a
Back at Palasa, some goons invade their home at night, Ashok and Jai together fight them off, following which Sandhya reveals about a mercenary named Sambasiva, who was after her life since she sent him to prison. Jai kills Sambasiva and gives the credit to a
Cast
- Pawan Kalyan as Jai
- Sarah-Jane Dias as Sandhya
- Anjali Lavania as Jahnavi
- Jackie Shroff as Bhagavan
- Adivi Sesh as Munna, Bhagavan's son
- Atul Kulkarni as Kulkarni
- Brahmanandam as M. Paparayudu
- Tanikella Bharani as Guruvayya
- Ali as Chotu
- Subbarajuas Ashok, Sandhya's brother
- Sampath Raj as Sampath, Kulkarni's brother
- Amit Tiwari as Kulkarni's henchman
- Paruchuri Venkateswara Raoas Sabhapathi
- Surekha Vani as Jai's mother
- Jhansias Lakshmi
- Kishori Ballal as Sandhya's grandmother
Production
Development
In November 2010, sources reported that director Vishnuvardhan would direct a film featuring Pawan Kalyan in the lead role, to be produced by Neelima Nagesh and Shobu Yarlagadda.[8] Neelima, in an interview, stated that she was a big fan of Pawan Kalyan.[9] Vishnnuvardhan, following the release of his 2009 film Sarvam, which fared poorly at the box office, had been working on two scripts – the other one being the prequel to the 2007 version of Billa – but was unable to start either project due to unavailable dates of Pawan Kalyan and Ajith Kumar.[10] He had planned to shoot both projects simultaneously from March 2011 onwards, but since that was not possible, he was forced to drop one of the projects, with Vishnuvardhan eventually deciding to direct this film.[10] Abburi Ravi was roped in to write the dialogues, while the screenplay was provided by Rahul Koda.[11]
Casting
Former
Filming
Principal photography was expected to start from 15 April 2011, with the scenes during the first schedule being shot in
The film was launched under the
Soundtrack
For the film's score and soundtrack, Vishnuvardhan's friend and usual associate,
Marketing and release
Prior to its release, the film's official merchandise was made available on the official site, including a game application.
In order to prevent any major cuts, the makers accepted the A (adults only) rating from the Central Board of Film Certification for their release in India, while they actually wanted the U/A (parental guidance) rating.[38][39] The film was released on 9 December 2011 with six cuts.[40] Following multiple fan requests, the makers added the title track in the beginning as well, while it initially played only during the end.[41]
In 2012, the film was released on DVD and Blu-ray formats by Bhavani DVD.[42][43] The same year, a Tamil-dubbed version titled Kuri (transl. Mark) was also scheduled to release, but the plan was later on dropped.[44][45] In 2015, a Hindi-dubbed version titled Jaandaar (transl. Brave) was released.[46] The film was also dubbed in Malayalam as Paayum.
Reception
Critical reception
Panjaa received mixed reviews, from the critics. Fullhyd gave it 3.5 stars out of 5, praising the film's technical aspects and performances while criticizing the
On the other hand,
References
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External links
- Official website
- Panjaa at IMDb