Ek Niranjan (transl. A Loner) is a 2009 Indian Telugu-language action film written and directed by Puri Jagannadh. It stars Prabhas, Kangana Ranaut, Sonu Sood and Mukul Dev. The plot revolves around Chotu (Prabhas), who is a bounty hunter getting criminals to the police in exchange for money and how he reunites with his parents he never got to meet because he was kidnapped.
Filming took place from March 2009 to September 2009 and was shot on Hyderabad and Bangkok in addition to two songs in Switzerland. The film released on 30 October 2009 to mixed reviews. Prabhas was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu for his performance. The film was dubbed into Tamil as Police Dada and was released on 31 May 2013. It was also dubbed in Hindi as Ek Hi Raasta: The Power, into Malayalam as Game.[2]
Plot
Chotu is a bounty hunter who works in capturing gangsters for money from the police and is also searching for his parents as he was kidnapped by a gangster named Chidambaram, who kidnaps children and makes them as beggars. While capturing a goon, Chotu comes across Sameera, a guitar teacher who is the sister of the goon who works for a gangster named Johnny Bhai. The cops ask Chotu to nab Sameera's brother, who is wanted for many crimes.
Chotu enters at Sameera's house and forcefully arrests his brother after causing much havoc in the house. Chotu then falls in love with Sameera. As her brother reels behind the bars, Sameera reciprocates her love for Chotu. Veeraiah's elder son Kailash also works for Johnny Bhai, who will be arrested on charges of killing Minister Narendra Kumar, which was planned by Johnny Bhai. Johnny Bhai wants to kill Kailash, who is arrested, fearing that he will reveal his name to the police interrogation. Kailash escapes from the police and Johnny Bhai goed in search of him.
The police commissioner also asks Chotu to find Kailash and bag a handsome reward. Sameera's brother vacates his house and escapes to Bangkok, fearing Johnny Bhai. Chotu also goes to Bangkok in search of Sameera and finds Kailash, where he catches Kailash, who tells him that Narendra Kumar was killed by his own brother and that Kailash took the blame. Johnny Bhai kidnaps Sameera and her brother and threatens to kill them if Chotu does not hand over Kailash to him. Later, Chotu rescues Sameera from Johnny Bhai and finally meets his parents.
Jagganadh and Prabhas worked together for the film Bujjigadu which was an average score in the box-office, Puri decided to do the duo again for Ek Niranjan. Prabhas’s character is a strong, powerful, dynamic, rough and tough guy who is a bounty hunter.[citation needed]
Kangana Ranaut, who is popular in Bollywood films, is making her debut in the Tollywood industry. Her character is said to be a guitar teacher. It was also said that she is acting in the film for a very big price of Rs. 10 million.Puri, initially, approached her for Pokiri which Ileana D'Cruz has done, but she was unable to do the film due to the dates of Gangster. Sonu Sood will essay the villain in the film. The film is described to be a mass commercial entertainer mixed with action, emotions, drama, suspense, romance and comedy to appeal to the audiences.[3]
Ek Niranjan began shooting on 31 March 2009 in Lahari resorts and Hyderabad.[4]
Parts of the film were shot in Switzerland, Bangkok, and Pattaya. The filming was completed in September 2009.
Release
Reception
The film received mixed reviews. Rediff gave a two-star rating commented "the film does not live up to the expectations. Technically, Puri ensures that the film is in place. He tries to earnestly build up a deft screenplay with a wafer-thin story (which is increasingly becoming his trademark). But the clichéd plot falls flat despite all the technical gimmicks (fights and all) and attempts to prop it up. However Prabhas is effortless as Chotu, he acts well and the movie is watchable for him although he has developed a similar style in all his films. Kangana's Telugu debut can't be really raved about. She looks pretty but as far as performance goes, there's nothing much to write about as the script doesn't have anything for her to showcase her acting skills".[5]Sify gave a three-star rating and said "Prabhas has come up with a good and lively performance in the film. He has improved a lot in his dialogue delivery. He also excelled in dance sequences. Bollywood beauty Kangana Ranaut makes her debut in Tollywood with this film and she is looking gorgeous. Sonu Sood comes up with another dazzling performance after magnum opus Arundathi. Director Puri Jagannadh just played routine stuff in this film. The presentation and narration are very weak, lacking all seriousness. The dialogues are to some extent good. The screenplay was not impressive and there a lot many illogical threads.[6] local review sites Greatandhra gave two and a half rating and Idlebrain gave a three-star says "On a whole, Ek Niranjan is a not a bad film. The first half of the movie is entertaining and the second half should have been better".[7]
Box office
Ek Niranjan was released all over Andhra Pradesh with over 350 prints in 700 theaters and the hype was outstanding due to the combination of Prabhas and Puri. The film grossed Rs. 210 million in its first week.[8]
The music is composed by Mani Sharma. The soundtrack contains six songs and featured throughout the film. The audio release was held on 25 September and was an elaborate event. Prabhas, Kangana Ranaut, Allu Arjun, Puri Jagannadh presented the music at the event.[9]
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