Panjaa

What does a person do when he/she has tasted success in life? Look to better it obviously. What if the success has resonated for a period of time? That’s when the person grapples with questions in the mind. Whether to succumb to the need of people who have gifted the success or to satiate the urge within

Ten years ago, after his biggest hit, Pawan Kalyan, was compared to Rajnikanth by AM Ratnam (the producer of the movie). He said that these were the two actors that knew the public pulse very well. Ironically, after Khushi there is not one movie that Pawan Kalyan can remember with fondness

When confronted by similar questions, Mahesh Babu, went for an overhaul in his image and came out successful with Dookudu. One can’t expect Pawan Kalyan doing a similar thing because the carefully cultivated image might go for a toss

In his initial movies, he tasted success through remakes and there is no harm in actually doing the same now. That his next movie is a remake might provide the emotional cushion for a man who is enduring the roughest of rough patches. He nearly put a halt to it with Jalsa but the confused narrative didn't allow the movie to get to the next level

His second ventures with the directors who gave him blockbusters fell flat. It’s said that his movie’s initial collections are on par with gross revenue of several blockbusters. If that’s true, then, Panjaa certainly has to be the biggest flop in his career

The screen where I saw the movie had at least 50% of its seats vacant. I, extrapolated when I said that Panjaa would be his biggest flop. The titles were impressive as the images of the actors were with silver hue. Starting off slowly, at no point does it appear that it will gather steam

The characterisation of Pawan Kalyan is patchy. In the first half, if he is not exhorting people about loyalty and gratitude, he is trying to infuse a dash of chemistry with Sarah Jane Dias. Though he has carried the look off very well, it seems as if he did not give enough attention to the story

The director, Vishnu Vardhan has stylishy crafted the movie but without a strong plot. It is indeed painful to watch Pawan Kalyan reduced to being reminiscent about his old movies. The flashback could have been given more run time in the movie but then it would bring it more closer in its storyline to Balu

  It’s not that Pawan Kalyan doesn’t care. He has tried all methods in trying to get to that elusive. The movies have tanked when he said that these were close to his heart. The movies flopped even when he said that his movie would have all the ingredients that a normal fan expects out of his movie. What he hasn’t tried though, is acting with the so-called “big(hit) directors”. It would be actually beneficial to him as they would know how to handle a project that has a superstar in it

It was refreshing to see Tanikella Bharani in a substantial role after a long time. In my memory, after Shiva this is the first movie that allows him show his histrionics

Brahmanandam and Ali fail miserably in their attempts to evoke laughter. Sesh Adivi did look the menacing brat that he portrayed in the movie. Jackie Shroff plays the antagonist and breezes through his role easily

What actually surprises me is the fact that Pawan Kalyan chose this script. It was so similar to Balu. Just that Balu starts off in New Delhi and Panjaa in Kolkatta

Verdict in a para: Any movie is a one time watch but Panja stretches your patience many times in the movie. Only a fan can have complimentary things to say about the movie. I would suggest people to wait for its screening on TV