James Pandu
 |
| James Pandu | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Selva |
| Written by | Suki Murthy Nagulan Ponnusamy (dialogues) |
| Story by | Parthiban |
| Produced by | V. Sundar |
| Starring | Parthiban Prabhu Deva Kausalya Renu Desai |
| Cinematography | Thangar Bachan |
| Edited by | Suresh Urs |
| Music by | S. A. Rajkumar |
Production company | Vishwas |
Release date | 21 April 2000 |
| Country | India |
| Language | Tamil |
James Pandu is a 2000 Indian Tamil-language action comedy film directed by Selva. The film stars Parthiban, Prabhu Deva, Kausalya and Renu Desai.[1] The film opened to mixed reviews from critics.[2]
Plot
James and Pandu are porters. Though they were inseparable friends before, there is no love lost between them now. James is in love with Renu, while Kausalya, a mute, has feelings for Pandu. A chit fund company owner hires James to 'steal' a bag of money from himself so he could abscond with the money, but his manager hires Pandu to steal the bag from James. When James and Pandu lay their hands on the money, they become friends again and decide to split the money. However, the company owner is found murdered, and they become the prime suspects. In the climax, Raghavachari comes to court and tells the truth that he killed the company owner because the latter would cheat many people. James and Pandu are both proven innocent.[3]
Cast
- Parthiban as Pandu
- Prabhu Deva as James
- Kausalya as Kausalya
- Renu Desai as Renu
- Nizhalgal Ravi as Chit fund company owner
- Ravikumar as Police inspector
- Thalaivasal Vijay as Chit fund company manager
- Pandu as Police inspector
- T. S. B. K. Moulee as Raghavachari (guest appearance)
- Shari guest appearance
- K. Sivasankar as Railway porter
- Balu Anand as Railway porter
- Sukran as Railway porter
- Madhan Bob
- Easwari Rao as Kausalya's sister
- Vijaya Singh
- Deepika
- Sridevi
- Sunanda
- Baby Anu as Kausalya's niece
- Periya Karuppu Thevar as Man asking for a donation
- Nellai Siva as Man asking for a donation
- Amalraj Vathiyar
- Kovai Senthil as Travelling ticket examiner
- Mayilsamy
- Scissor Manohar as Railway porter
- Manobala as Railway porter
- Pollachi Babu as Police inspector
- Bonda Mani
- Jayamani as Bus conductor
- Maayi Sundar as Railway porter
- Vijay Ganesh as Railway porter
- Soori as Railway porter (uncredited role)
Production
The film saw Parthiban and Prabhu Deva acting together for first time, though they appeared previously together in Suyamvaram but they didn't have any scenes together.[4] Selva had initially titled the film as Whistle, before renaming the project.[5] Isha Koppikar was initially cast in the film, but dropped out and was replaced by Renu Desai.[6] Title of the film is a spoof on Hollywood's famous character James Bond. The first shot was taken at the Arunachalam studios. The unit picturised two songs in the snowy and hilly areas of Gangtok in Sikkim.[7] There at a height of 14,000 feet is based an army camp, reported the highest situated army camp in the world. The unit, that got the permission to shoot there, had much difficulty picturising the songs in the cold hilly area, but have returned triumphant. Participating in the songs were Prabhu Deva and Renu. A ten days shooting schedule in Chennai followed by shooting, at places like Hyderabad, Chalakkudi and Mercara.[8] Television premiered was occurred in April 20' 2003 for as usual Normal weekend Sunday premier.
Soundtrack
Soundtrack was composed by S. A. Rajkumar.[9]
| Track # | Title | Singer(s) | Lyrics | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "James Pandu Da" | Mano, Unni Menon | Kalidasan | 04:09 |
| 2 | "Kannena Minsarama" | Devan Ekambaram, Bombay Jayashri | Na. Muthukumar | 04:23 |
| 3 | "Nikkattuma Nadakattuma" | Mano, Anuradha Sriram | Bharathi Sakthi | 04:31 |
| 4 | "Un Azhagai" | Srinivas, Reshmi | Viveka | 05:04 |
| 5 | "Vennila Ethuvum" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Reshmi | Thamarai | 04:06 |
Reception
India Info wrote "In the name of comedy the two heroes indulge in so many senseless antics that it makes you sick. As the story is credited to R Parthipan he is solely responsible for this disaster".[3] The Hindu wrote "A film that begins on an interesting note but soon dwindles into something different".[1] Kalki wrote "In order to make a comedy, the makers have chosen a plot with thriller which is quite strong, they could have made a thriller instead of comedy".[10]
References
- ^ a b "The Hindu : Film Review: James Pandu". Hinduonnet.com. 28 April 2000. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Archive News". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 23 January 2016.
- ^ a b "James Pandu Review". India Info. Archived from the original on 21 November 2005. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
- ^ "Welcome to SIFY Movies". sify.com. Archived from the original on 23 January 2005. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
- ^ "Dinakaran". www.dinakaran.com. Archived from the original on 24 June 2004. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ "Dinakaran". www.dinakaran.com. Archived from the original on 24 November 2004. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ http://cinematoday.itgo.com/James%20Pandu.htm
- ^ "James Pandu". www.chennaionline.com. Archived from the original on 23 December 2001. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ "James Pandu 2000 Tamil Mp3 Songs Free Download Masstamilan Isaimini Kuttyweb".
- ^ "James Pandu". Kalki. 21 May 2000. p. 97.