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James Pandu

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James Pandu
Title card
Directed bySelva
Written bySuki Murthy
Nagulan Ponnusamy (dialogues)
Story byParthiban
Produced byV. Sundar
StarringParthiban
Prabhu Deva
Kausalya
Renu Desai
CinematographyThangar Bachan
Edited bySuresh Urs
Music byS. A. Rajkumar
Production
company
Vishwas
Release date
  • 4 May 2000 (2000-05-04)
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil

James Pandu is a 2000 Indian Tamil-language comedy thriller film directed by Selva and produced by V. Sundar. The film stars Parthiban, Prabhu Deva, Kausalya, and Renu Desai. It was released on 4 May 2000.[1]

Plot

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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.

Cast

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Production

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The film saw Parthiban and Prabhu Deva acting together for first time, though they appeared previously together in Suyamvaram but they did not have any scenes together.[2] Selva had initially titled the film as Visil, before renaming the project.[3] The title of the film is a play on the name of fictional British secret agent James Bond. Isha Koppikar was initially cast in the film.[4] The first shot was taken at the Arunachalam studios. The unit picturised two songs in the snowy and hilly areas of Gangtok in Sikkim.[5] There at a height of 14,000 feet (4,300 m) 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]

Soundtrack

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Soundtrack was composed by S. A. Rajkumar.[7][8] The song "Kannena Minsarama" is based off of "Rona" by Alabina.[9]

Title Singer(s) Lyrics Length
"James Pandu Da" Mano, Unni Menon Kalidasan 04:09
"Kannena Minsarama" Devan Ekambaram, Bombay Jayashri Na. Muthukumar 04:23
"Nikkattuma Nadakattuma" Mano, Anuradha Sriram Bharathi Sakthi 04:31
"Un Azhagai" Srinivas, Reshmi Viveka 05:04
"Vennila Ethuvum" S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Reshmi Thamarai 04:06

Reception

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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".[10] The Hindu wrote, "A film that begins on an interesting note but soon dwindles into something different".[11] Malini Mannath wrote for Chennai Online, "James Pandu is Selva's ' holiday special,' where one doesn't have to tax one's intelligence at all. So enjoy it kids!".[12] Kalki wrote that in order to make a comedy, the makers chose a plot with thriller which is quite strong, they could have made a thriller instead of comedy.[13]

References

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  1. ^ "James Bandu ( 2000 )". Cinesouth. Archived from the original on 15 November 2004. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  2. ^ "James Pandu". Sify. Archived from the original on 23 January 2005. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  3. ^ "An Interview: Parthiban". Dinakaran. 30 September 1999. Archived from the original on 24 June 2004. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  4. ^ "Cine News". Dinakaran. 1 November 1999. Archived from the original on 24 November 2004. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  5. ^ "சிக்கிமில் ஜேம்ஸ் பாண்டு!". Kalki (in Tamil). 26 December 1999. p. 93. Archived from the original on 18 June 2023. Retrieved 18 June 2023 – via Internet Archive.
  6. ^ Mannath, Malini. "James Pandu". Chennai Online. Archived from the original on 23 December 2001. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  7. ^ "James Pondu / Taalam". AVDigital. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  8. ^ "James Pandu". JioSaavn. 16 November 2000. Archived from the original on 25 June 2024. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  9. ^ S, Karthik. "Tamil [Other Composers]". ItwoFS. Archived from the original on 22 May 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  10. ^ "James-Pandu – Comedy at its worse". India Info. Archived from the original on 21 November 2005. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  11. ^ Rangarajan, Malathi (28 April 2000). "Film Review: James Pandu". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  12. ^ Mannath, Malini. "James Pandu". Chennai Online. Archived from the original on 19 October 2000. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  13. ^ "ஜேம்ஸ் பாண்டு". Kalki (in Tamil). 21 May 2000. p. 96. Archived from the original on 12 May 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2022 – via Internet Archive.
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