Panjaa

Panjaa
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Vishnuvardhan
Screenplay by	Rahul Koda Vishnuvardhan
Dialogues by	Abburi Ravi
Story by	Vishnuvardhan
Produced by	Neelima Tirumalasetty Nagesh Muntha Shobu Yarlagadda Prasad Devineni
Starring	Pawan Kalyan Sarah-Jane Dias Anjali Lavania Jackie Shroff Adivi Sesh Atul Kulkarni Sampath Raj
Cinematography	P. S. Vinod
Edited by	A. Sreekar Prasad
Music by	Yuvan Shankar Raja
Production companies	Arka Media Works Sanghamitra Arts Productions
Distributed by	Sri Venkateswara Creations
Release date	9 December 2011(2011-12-09)
Running time	156 minutes
Country	India
Language	Telugu
Budget	est.₹33 crore
Box office	est.₹30 crore

Panjaa(transl. Claw) is a 2011 IndianTelugu-languageaction filmdirected byVishnuvardhanand produced byArka Media Worksand Sanghamitra Art Productions. The film starsPawan Kalyan,Sarah-Jane Dias,Anjali Lavania,Jackie Shroff,Adivi Sesh,Atul Kulkarni,Sampath Raj,SubbarajuandTanikella Bharani.The plot centers around Jai, a loyal henchman for a gangster, who is forced to go on the run after a botched mission leads him to kill his boss's son in response to a violent atrocity.

The film features music scored byYuvan Shankar RajaandcinematographybyP. S. Vinod.The film marks Dias' debut inTelugu cinemaand Lavania's film debut. Vishnuvardhan, who works primarily in theTamil cinema,makes his directorial debut in Telugu. Principal photography of the film commenced on 6 May 2011. The filming took place primarily atKolkata,Pollachi,Karaikudi,VagamonandPalasa.

Panjaawas released theatrically on 9 December 2011 to mixed reviews from critics.Despite its moderate success internationally, it struggled to make a significant impact at the domestic box office.Over time, it has been regarded as an underrated film in Telugu cinema.

Plot

Jai is aKolkata-basedhitmanworking for a don named Bhagavan, and they together share a business rivalry with Kulkarni. Bhagavan's psychotic son, Munna, returns to India after 8 years.

Apart from his gangster life, Jai also owns a nursery where he raises a variety of plants along with his friend, Chotu. He also appoints a caretaker for the nursery, Sandhya. He 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 his father's accountant and confidant, Sabapathy, and humiliates him by urinating on him 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 younger brother, Sampath. He asks Guruvayya to hold Rahul hostage at a club until he is back with Sabapathy. He demands a meeting with Sabapathy in exchange for Rahul's freedom. Sabapathy tells him that he switched sides not to retaliate, but to protect himself. Munna, on the other hand, visits the club and is attracted to the club dancer, Jhanvi, who is also Jai's childhood friend, 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 aninceland kills Kulkarni's henchman, who came to pick up Rahul.

When Sampath and Kulkarni receive no response from Guruvayya, 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 as he is on his way, he is attacked by Bhagavan's men, as per his orders. Following agunfight,Jai escapes while Bhagavan vows to seek revenge for Munna's death. Jai escapes toPalasa,where he stays at Sandhya's house. On the other hand, the rivalry between Bhagavan and Kulkarni intensifies after Jai's exit as Bhagavan loses power and his trusted men join hands with Kulkarni. Bhagavan learns about Jai'snurseryhe used to run with the help of Chotu, and gets it destroyed by his men.

Back at Palasa, local goons invade Sandhya's house at night, where her elder brother, Ashok, and Jai 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 localcopnamed Paparayudu. Bhagavan learns about Chotu's location through his girlfriend, kills her, and captures Chotu. He finds out about Jai and Sandhya through a photo from his phone. When Chotu refuses to tell anything about Jai, Bhagavan gets himasphyxiated.Jai reveals to Sandhya that he was the one who killed Sambasiva for her, further revealing about his past. He is soon attacked by Sampath and his henchmen, but Ashok arrives to his rescue. Following a gunfight and brawl, Jai kills Sampath and learns Sandhya has been kidnapped. He goes back to Kolkata and attacks Kulkarni's house, where he kills his henchmen and holds Kulkarni at gunpoint. Kulkarni tells him he was not the one that kidnapped Sandhya, but Guruvayya who told them about his location in Andhra Pradesh.

Jai proceeds to first kill Kulkarni and then Guruvayya, following which he arrives at Bhagavan's house and finds Sandhya captive. He reveals why he killed Munna and tries to convince Bhagavan into sparing Sandhya. However, Bhagavan ends up shooting her, and he ends up fatally shooting Bhagavan. Sandhya survives and unites with Jai, but Bhagavan dies from his injuries.

Cast

• Pawan Kalyanas Jai
• Sarah-Jane Diasas Sandhya
• Anjali Lavaniaas Jahnavi
• Jackie Shroffas Bhagavan
• Adivi Seshas Munna, Bhagavan's son
• Atul Kulkarnias Kulkarni
• Brahmanandamas M. Paparayudu
• Tanikella Bharanias Guruvayya
• Alias Chotu
• Subbarajuas Ashok, Sandhya's brother
• Sampath Rajas Sampath, Kulkarni's brother
• Amit Tiwarias Kulkarni's henchman
• Paruchuri Venkateswara Raoas Sabhapathi
• Surekha Vani as Jai's mother
• Jhansias Lakshmi
• Kishori Ballalas Sandhya's grandmother

Production

Development

In November 2010, sources reported that directorVishnuvardhanwould direct a film featuringPawan Kalyanin the lead role, to be produced by Neelima Nagesh and Shobu Yarlagadda.Neelima, in an interview, stated that she was a big fan of Pawan Kalyan.Vishnnuvardhan, following the release of his 2009 filmSarvam,which fared poorly at the box office, had been working on two scripts – the other one being theprequelto the2007 version ofBilla– but was unable to start either project due to unavailable dates of Pawan Kalyan andAjith Kumar.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.Abburi Raviwas roped in to write the dialogues, while the screenplay was provided by Rahul Koda.

Casting

FormerMiss IndiaSarah-Jane Diaswas signed for one of the two female lead characters, making her Telugu film debut.Jiah KhanandShazahn Padamsee,who starred inOrangeoppositeRam Charan Tej,were considered for the other female role.However, eventuallyMumbai-based modelAnjali Lavania,best known for her appearances in the Kingfisher calendar and several other advertisements, was finalised for the second character. Director-actor Sesh Adivi was roped in for an antagonist role.Yuvan Shankar RajaandA. Sreekar Prasad,Vishnuvardhan's norm associates, were signed to score the music and handle the editing department, respectively, whileP. S. Vinodwas selected as the cinematographer in place ofNirav Shahwho had worked on Vishnuvardhan's previous projects.Action sequences were choreographed by Sham Kaushal, a notedstunt co-ordinatorinBollywoodfilms, while Sunil Babu was chosen as the art director.Vishnuvardhan's wife,Anu Vardhan,worked as the costume designer.

Filming

Principal photography was expected to start from 15 April 2011, with the scenes during the first schedule being shot inKolkata,West Bengal. Filming eventually began on 6 May in Kolkata,where the major part of the film was shot.The Kolkata schedule was completed by late June 2011,and the following month, filming was held inPollachi,Tamil Nadu,which was followed by schedules inKaraikudi,Tamil Nadu and acrossKerala.In Kerala, the crew shot for five days at theVagamonhill station, located 1,100 metres above sea level.A song sequence featuring Pawan Kalyan and Sarah Jane was shot at theRamoji Film CityinHyderabadin September under the choreography of Firoz Khan.From 10 October, the last song picturised on Anjali Lavania was canned in a Hyderabad studio. Anjali performedbelly dancein the song, which was choreographed byGeeta Kapoor,best known for her work in the songSheila Ki Jawanifrom the Hindi filmTees Maar Khan.

The film was launched under theworking titleThe Shadow,with the team indicating that the title may be changed. The film, began its principal photography in early May 2011, which was completed by October 2011, with filming being held primarily atKolkata,West Bengal,PollachiandKaraikudiin Tamil Nadu andVagamonin Kerala apart fromPalasa.In the following months, several titles includingKaali,Thilak,PowerandPatel,were considered.The official title was revealed asPanjaaby the producers duringDussera.

Soundtrack

Main article:Panjaa (soundtrack)

For the film's score and soundtrack, Vishnuvardhan's friend and usual associate,Yuvan Shankar Raja,was signed up.Panjaa's soundtrack features six tracks.ChandraboseandRamajogayya Sastrypenned the lyrics for every three songs. The audio launch was held on 18 November 2011 in a grand manner at theGachibowli Indoor StadiuminHyderabad.The event was broadcast live onMAA TV.The songs generally garnered positive response.

Marketing and release

Prior to its release, the film's official merchandise was made available on the official site, including a game application.15% of the merchandise sales were donated to majorNGOs.Ananti-piracyinitiative was also launched through the site itself.The film's official merchandise was also released acrossAndhra Pradesh.Ateaser trailerwas released a day prior to Diwali, which received a high response. According toSify,it was seen more than 200,000 times on the film's official YouTube channel within 24 hours, setting a new record.

In order to prevent any major cuts, the makers accepted the A (adults only) rating from theCentral Board of Film Certificationfor their release in India, while they actually wanted the U/A (parental guidance) rating.The film was released on 9 December 2011 with six cuts.Following multiple fan requests, the makers added the title track in the beginning as well, while it initially played only during the end.

In 2012, the film was released onDVDandBlu-rayformats by Bhavani DVD.The same year, aTamil-dubbed version titledKuri(transl. Mark) was also scheduled to release, but the plan was later on dropped.In 2015, aHindi-dubbed version titledJaandaar(transl. Brave) was released.The film was also dubbed in Malayalam as Paayum.

Reception

Critical reception

Panjaa received mixed reviews, from the critics.Fullhydgave it 3.5 stars out of 5, praising the film's technical aspects and performances while criticizing thedubbingfor both the heroines.123Telugugave it 3 stars out of 5, praising the performances and action sequences while also criticizing the second half and lack of lengthy song sequences.Idlebrain.comalso gave it 3 stars out of 5, similarly praising the action sequences and performances apart from technical aspects, but criticized the lack of emotions.News18praised the film's art work and styling, but criticized the narration pace.

On the other hand,Rediffgave 2 stars, criticizing the script and pointing out that it reminded of Kalyan's earlier filmBalu ABCDEFGbut praised Sesh's performanceGreatandhraalso gave it 2 stars, criticizing the lack of a "major conflict point".Oneindia.incriticized the film but praised Kalyan's performance, cinematography and the music.

External links

• Official website
• PanjaaatIMDb