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Panjaa () is a 2011 Indian Telugu language-language action thriller film directed by Vishnuvardhan (in his Telugu cinema directorial debut), produced by Arka Media Works and Sanghamitra Art Productions. The film stars Pawan Kalyan, Sarah-Jane Dias, Anjali Lavania, Jackie Shroff, Adivi Sesh, Atul Kulkarni, Sampath Raj, Subbaraju and Tanikella 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 by Yuvan Shankar Raja and cinematography by P. S. Vinod. Pawan-Vishnu flick in March. Sify.com (1 February 2011). Retrieved 6 December 2011. Principal photography of the film commenced on 6 May 2011. The filming took place primarily at Kolkata, Pollachi, Karaikudi, Vagamon and Palasa.
Panjaa was 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 and flopped. Over time, the film was reevaluated and gained a cult following in Telugu cinema.
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 an incel and 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 a gunfight, Jai escapes while Bhagavan vows to seek revenge for Munna's death. Jai escapes to Palasa, 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's Plant nursery he 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 local police officer named 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 him asphyxiated. 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.
The film was launched under the working title The 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 at Kolkata, West Bengal, Pollachi and Karaikudi in Tamil Nadu and Vagamon in Kerala apart from Palasa. In the following months, several titles including Kaali, Thilak, Power and Patel, were considered. First look: Pawan Kalyan's Panja – Rediff.com Movies . Rediff.com (10 October 2011). Retrieved 6 December 2011. Not Shadow/Kaali, but Panjaa. Sify.com (6 October 2011). Retrieved 6 December 2011. The official title was revealed as Panjaa by the producers during Navrati.
In order to prevent any major cuts, the makers accepted the A (adults only) rating from the Central Board of Film Certification for 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 on DVD and Blu-ray formats by Bhavani DVD. The same year, a Tamil language-dubbed version titled Kuri () was also scheduled to release, but the plan was later on dropped. In 2015, a Hindi-dubbed version titled Jaandaar () was released. The film was also dubbed in Malayalam as Paayum.
On the other hand, Rediff gave 2 stars, criticizing the script and pointing out that it reminded of Kalyan's earlier film Balu ABCDEFG but praised Sesh's performance
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