Anji (film)

Anji
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Directed by	Kodi Ramakrishna
Produced by	Shyam Prasad Reddy
Written by	Satyanand
Starring	Chiranjeevi Namrata Shirodkar Tinnu Anand Nagendra Babu M. S. Narayana
Music by	Mani Sharma
Cinematography	Chota K. Naidu
Release date(s)	2004
Language	Telugu

Anji (Telugu: అంజి) is a 2004 Telugu film (dubbed in in Tamil as Kolli Malai , Hindi as Diler and in Malayalam as Chekavan) produced by M. S. Arts with Chiranjeevi in the lead role. It was made over seven years with a budget of 25 crores, which was the most spent on any Telugu language film until then. The film was produced by Shyam Prasad Reddy. It received a National Film Award for Best Special Effects.

Plot

The Aatmalingam of the Himalayas possesses enormous divine powers. Once every 72 years, Akasa Ganga from sky flows into the Aatmalingam. Those who drink the holy water of Akasa Ganga become younger for eternity and gain supernatural powers.

In 1932, a youngster named Bhatia (Bhupinder Singh) attempts to get hold of Atmalingam and drink Akasa Ganga but ends up losing his right arm. As time progresses, Bhatia (Tinnu Anand) is now 99 years old. Bhatia searches for the traces of Aatma Lingam, but in vain. The Akasaganga is slated to flow to earth for Atmalingam in 2004 again. Finally he gets to know about a professor who made a lifetime research on Aatmalingam and Akasaganga who possesses vital information in a red diary. Fearing for his life and this information, the professor sends the diary to his student Swapna (Namrata Shirodkar) who is in USA so that Bhatia will not be able to get divine powers. After receiving the diary, Swapna, sensing danger to her professor, comes back to India in search of her professor only to find him killed. While escaping from Bhatia, she runs into Anji (Chiranjeevi). Anji is a good Samaritan in Uravakonda forest area, who serves the most revered Sivanna (Nagendra Babu)- an ayurvedic specialist while also raising 4 orphans.

Oneday, Anji accidentally stumbles on 'Atmalingam' and gets it into his possession. After coming to know about it, Bhatia and his men are after Anji and Swapna. As the D Day of Akasa Ganga is fast approaching, Sivanna advises Anji that the Atmalingam should be sent back to where it belongs. The rest of the movie shows how Anji returns the Aatma lingam to the temple in Himalayas while also defeating Bhatia.

Plot similarities

Anji film draws many similarities with the popular hollywood film indiana jones and the last crusade.The part where chiranjeevi crosses obstacles is drawn from aforementioned movie. Atmalingam replaced holy grail from the original.

The film also having many similarities with the hollywood film Romancing the Stone.

Cast

• Chiranjeevi as Anji
• Namrata Shirodkar as Swapna
• Tinnu Anand as Bhatia
• Nagendra Babu as Sivanna
• Bhupinder Singh as Young Bhatia
• M. S. Narayana
• Saraswatamma
• Akshay Reddy as Master Akshay
• Bharat as Master Bharat
• Vamsi as Master Vamsi
• Meghana Gummi as Baby Meghana
• Keerthana as Baby Keerthana
• Nithya as Baby Nithya
• Ramya Krishna has a special appearance in song "Chikbuk Pori"
• Reema Sen has a special appearance in the song "Mirapakaya Bajji"

Production

• Production company: M. A. Arts
• Visual effects: Firefly Creative Studio
• Creatives for visual effects: Bapu
• DVD release: Supreme Audio

Songs

• Chik Book Pori

Playback singers: Kalpana, Shankar Mahadevan, Lyrics: Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry, Cast: Chiranjeevi, Ramya Krishna

• Gumma Gulabi Komma

Singers: Karthik Raja, Shalini Singh, Lyrics: Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry, Cast: Chiranjeevi

• Abbo Nee Amma Goppade

Singers: S. P. Balasubramaniam, Kalpana, Lyrics: Bhuvana Chandra, Cast: Chiranjeevi and Namrata Shirodkar

• Mirapakaya Bajji

Singers: S. P. Balasubramaniam, Radhika, Lyrics: Bhuvana Chandra, Cast: Chiranjeevi and Reema Sen

• Manava Manava

Singers: Saandip, Sunita, Lyrics: Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry, Cast: Chiranjeevi and Rajya Lakshmi

• Om Santhi Om Santhi

Singers: Ganga Sitharasu, Shankar Mahadevan, Lyrics: Chandrabose, Cast: Chiranjeevi and Namrata Shirodkar

Awards

• National Film Award for Best Special Effects for Sanath

Trivia

• The film was an average grosser.
• It took seven years to complete the project.
• Shyam Prasad Reddy reshot several scenes multiple times.
• Dubbed into Malayalam as Chekavan
• Dubbed into Tamil as Kolimali Singam
• Released in Hindi as Diler
• It received good reviews. Film critic Idlebrain Jeevi gave the film 3/5, appreciating its visual effects.
• Son of noted music director Chakravarthy, Sri, composed the song "Chikbuk Pori", but he is uncredited.

External links

• Anji at the Internet Movie Database