Pourudu

Pourudu (“Citizen”) is a 2008 Telugu action thriller written and directed by Raj Aditya, starring Sumanth and Kajal Aggarwal, with Suman, Nassar, Subbaraju and Kota Srinivasa Rao in support. It was produced by Sumanth’s sister Supriya under S. S. Creations, presented by Annapurna Studios, with music by Mani Sharma and cinematography by Sudhakar Yekkanti. It was released on 13 January 2008.

What the story is about

Ajay has finished college and is preparing for the civil services. His father Pandu is the right-hand man of a powerful mafia boss, Jakeer Bhai, while a rival gang is run by Kasi and his son. Ajay loves his father but wants nothing to do with his world: he studies hard, clears his preliminaries and also happens to be a martial-arts expert. He falls in love with Samyukta, a student at a dance school.

When a new circle inspector, Hussain, arrives determined to nail Jakeer Bhai, Pandu and Kasi, and finds their political connections protecting them, the city’s gang rivalry starts closing in on Ajay’s family. Forced to step into a fight to save his father, the would-be officer is pulled into the very world he wanted to escape. The story is, as one critic put it, a personal revenge drama dressed up as a civic one.

Cast and crew

• Sumanth as Ajay
• Kajal Aggarwal as Samyukta
• Suman as Pandu, Ajay’s father
• Nassar as Jakeer Bhai
• Subbaraju as CI Hussain
• Kota Srinivasa Rao as Kasi
• Brahmanandam as a church father and Ali as “Madame Sir”
• Dharmavarapu Subramanyam and Pragathi as Samyukta’s parents
• Sunil as Samyukta’s prospective groom

Writer and director: Raj Aditya. Producer: Supriya (S. S. Creations; Annapurna Studios presents). Music: Mani Sharma. Cinematography: Sudhakar Yekkanti.

Music

The soundtrack was launched quietly at Annapurna Studios on the night of 27 December 2007, without speeches; ANR released the audio and handed the cassette to D. Rama Naidu, with Nagarjuna, Sumanth and Kajal Aggarwal present. The song “Nee Pakkanunte” reworks “Nee Mutham Ondru”, which Mani Sharma had composed for the Tamil film Pokkiri.

Reviews and box office

Reviewers found it average. Jeevi of Idlebrain gave it 3 out of 5, calling it “a pure personal revenge story” saved by a better climax and good fights. Telugucinema.com also gave 3 out of 5 but felt Sumanth was let down by a poor script and a boring second half. Sify said the film was bogged down by a “beaten to death” plot, and Rediff felt that despite an interesting premise “it fails to live up to the expectations”. It was a moderate success, running 100 days in a couple of centres; Idlebrain covered the 100-day function. It was dubbed into Hindi as Giraftaar: The Man on a Mission.

Where to watch Pourudu

We do not have a confirmed streaming listing for Pourudu on file. If we verify one with a platform, it will appear on this page.

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Pourudu and the reviews and report it cites, linked above; our own cast and crew records.