James Pandu
James Pandu | |
---|---|
Directed by | Selva |
Written by | Suki Murthy, Nagulan Ponnusamy (dialogues) |
Story by | R. Parthiban |
Produced by | V. Sundar |
Starring | Prabhu Deva Parthiban 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 Tamil action comedy film directed by Selva. The film stars Prabhu Deva, Parthiban, Kausalya and Renu Desai in lead roles.[1] The film opened to mixed reviews from critics.[2]
Plot
James (Prabhu Deva) and Pandu (Parthiban) are porters. Though they were inseparable friends before, there is no love lost between them now. James is in love with Renu (Renu Desai), while Kausalya (Kausalya), a mute, has feelings for Pandu. A chit fund company owner (Nizhalgal Ravi) hires James to 'steal' a bag of money from himself so he could abscond with the money, but his manager (Thalaivasal Vijay) 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, Mouli comes to court and tells the truth that he killed the company owner because the latter would cheat many people. James and Pandu are proven innocent.[3]
Cast
- Prabhu Deva as James
- Parthiban as Pandu
- Kausalya as Kausalya
- Renu Desai as Renu
- Nizhalgal Ravi as Chit Fund Company Owner
- Thalaivasal Vijay as Nizhalgal Ravi's manager
- T. S. B. K. Moulee as Nizhalgal Ravi's killer
- Madhan Bob
- Mayilsamy
- Manobala
- Pandu
- Easwari Rao
- Periya Karuppu Thevar
- Soori as Railway porter (uncredited)
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] 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 snowly and hilly areas of Gangtok in Sikkim.[5] 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.[6]
Reviews
Parthiban is an actor who chooses his roles with care and tries to bring variations in his performances. The audience who expects something different from him every time has accepted his rugged looks and physique. On the other hand, Prabhu Deva is the ‘boneless wonder’ who has twisted and wriggled his way to stardom. Most of the time he is expected only to dance his way through a role, the performance part of it not very demanding. Now, these two artistes who are very different in their acting styles, team up together in a film called ‘James Pandu’. James is Parthiban and Pandu, Prabhu Deva. The duo plays the role of conmen in the film who try hard to get reformed and set their lives right. Paried with Parthiban and Prabhu Deva are Kausalya and new face Renu. The foursome is supported by Nizhalgal Ravi, Manobala, Anju, and Vivek. Dance choreographer Shivashanker too will be featuring in a role in the film.
The first shot was taken at the Arunachalam studios. It had James and Pandu standing in front of a Ganesh Temple, taking ‘Vibhuti’ (sacred ash) and putting it on each other's forehead. Then the duo bow to the idol and address it; "Ganesha, we have been steeling for out livelihood all our lives. Our life is still not a settled one. They say that if we pray to you daily, you will definitely solve our problems. So now we are going to steel you and take you with us. Please steer out life in the right direction." Lending the right touch of humour to the scene was Parthiban and Prabhu Deva. And directing it was Selva, who also writes the screenplay. Cranking the camera was Thangar Bachaan.
The unit has just returned after picturising two songs in the snowy and hilly areas of Gangtok in Sikkim. 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 are the other schedules planned. ‘James Pandu’ has music by S. A. Rajkumar, dialogues by Murthy Ramesh and Nakulan Ponnusamy, editing by Suresh Urs and artwork by G. K. Produced by Vishwas, ‘James Pandu" planned to be a thriller, with a proper blend of action and comedy, is scheduled for release on 26 January, Republic Day.[7]
Soundtrack
No. | Title | Singer(s) | Lyrics | Length (m:ss) |
1 | James Pandu Da | Mano, Unni Menon | Na. Muthukumar | 04:09 |
2 | Kannena Minsarama | Devan Ekambaram, Bombay Jayashri | Bharathsakthi | 04:23 |
3 | Nikkattuma Nadakattuma | Mano, Anuradha Sriram | Kalidasan | 04:31 |
4 | Un Azhagai | Srinivas, Reshmi | Viveka | 05:04 |
5 | Vennila Ethuvum | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Reshmi | Thamarai | 04:06 |
References
- ^ "The Hindu : Film Review: James Pandu". Hinduonnet.com. 28 April 2000. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
- ^ https://www.thehindu.com/2000/04/28/stories/09280224.htm
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20051121013438/http://movies.indiainfo.com/tamil/reviews/james.html. Archived from the original on 21 November 2005. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
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(help) - ^ http://www.sify.com/movies/tamil/preview.php?ctid=5&cid=2423&id=6007235
- ^ http://cinematoday.itgo.com/James%20Pandu.htm
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20011223062507/http://www.chennaionline.com/location/james.asp
- ^ http://cinematoday.itgo.com/James%20Pandu.htm