Duvvada Jagannadham
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''DJ: Duvvada Jagannadham'' is a 2017 Indian
Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...
-language
action comedy film The action comedy is a film genre that applies to action films where humor plays a much more central role. While early films feature stuntwork and humor, academic Cynthia King wrote that the genre only came into its own as a mainstay of the Americ ...
directed by
Harish Shankar Sanganabhatla Harish Shankar (born 31 March 1977) is an Indian film director and screenwriter known for his works exclusively in Telugu cinema, and Telugu drama, Telugu theater. He made his directorial debut with ''Shock (2006 film), Shock'' ( ...
and produced by
Sri Venkateswara Creations Sri Venkateswara Creations is an Indian film production company based in Hyderabad. It was established by Dil Raju in 2003 and has produced several Telugu films. The company also has a subsidiary film distribution business named Sri Venkateswar ...
. The film stars
Allu Arjun Allu Arjun (born 8 April 1982) is an Indian actor who works in Telugu cinema. He is one of the highest-paid actors in Indian cinemaand has been featured in ''Forbes Indias Celebrity 100 list since 2014. Allu Arjun's accolades include a Na ...
and
Pooja Hegde Pooja Hegde ( born 13 October 1990) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Telugu, Hindi and Tamil films. One of the highest-paid actresses of South Indian cinema, Hegde is a recipient of four SIIMA Awards along with three Filmfare Awar ...
, alongside
Rao Ramesh Rao Ramesh (born 25 May 1968) is an Indian actor who works primarily in Telugu cinema, Telugu theatre, theatre, and television apart from some Tamil films. He is the son of veteran actor Rao Gopal Rao. Rao Ramesh initially appeared in ''Seema ...
,
Subbaraju Penmetsa Subbaraju is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Telugu cinema, as well as Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi cinema. Subbaraju has played a variety of roles, from negative to supporting characters. Early life Subbaraju was born in Bh ...
,
Murali Sharma Murali Sharma (born 9 August 1972) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Telugu language, Telugu and Hindi films. Sharma has starred in over 130 feature films including Telugu language, Telugu, Hindi, Tamil language, Tamil, Marathi lang ...
,
Vennela Kishore Bokkala Kishore Kumar (born 19 September 1980), known professionally as Vennela Kishore, is an Indian actor and director who works in Telugu cinema. Known for his comedic roles, he earned the moniker "Vennela" after his first feature film ''Ven ...
Posani Krishna Murali Posani Krishna Murali (born 22 January 1958) is an Indian screenwriter, actor, director and producer who primarily works in Telugu cinema. He worked as a writer for over 150 Telugu films and directed a number of films. In 2009, he also conte ...
,
Tanikella Bharani Tanikella Bharani (born 14 July 1954) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, poet and playwright who works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He has worked as an actor in more than 750 films, including few in Tamil, Kannada and Hindi; while he was al ...
and Chandra Mohan. The music was composed by
Devi Sri Prasad Gandham Sriprasad (2 August 1979), known as Devi Sri Prasad or more commonly by his initials DSP, is an Indian music composer, singer, and lyricist primarily known for his work in Telugu cinema, along with Tamil cinema. He has received numerous ...
, while the cinematography and editing were handled by
Ayananka Bose Ayananka Bose is an Indian cinematographer who works in Hindi films. He studied cinematography at the Film and Television Institute of Tamil Nadu in Chennai. He won the best cinematographer of Zee Cine Awards for the film ''Kites'' in 2011. E ...
and Chota K. Prasad. ''DJ: Duvvada Jagannadham'' was released on 23 June 2017 to positive reviews from critics and grossed over 150 crore, thus becoming one of the highest-grossing Telugu films of 2017.


Plot

Duvvada Jagannadham Sastri, a chef working as a caterer from
Vijayawada Vijayawada ( ), formerly known by its colonial name Bezawada, is the second largest city and a major commercial hub in the Andhra Pradesh state of India. The city forms an integral part of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region and is situated on th ...
along with his
Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...
family, masquerades as DJ, an
altruistic Altruism is the concern for the well-being of others, independently of personal benefit or reciprocity. The word ''altruism'' was popularised (and possibly coined) by the French philosopher Auguste Comte in French, as , for an antonym of egoi ...
vigilante who kills wrongdoers with the help of his mentor CI Puroshottam. At his friend Vignesh's wedding, Jagannadhan meets Pooja, the daughter of
Home Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergenc ...
Pushpam, and falls in love with her. Royyala Naidu, a builder, also runs two fraud companies called ''Agro Diamond'' and ''Naidu Constructions''. Naidu appoints his secretary Stephen Prakash to be chairman of Agro Diamond, but Sameer Chandra, the
CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...
of Agro Diamond, learns that Stephen has transferred the money elsewhere and files a case against the company. After Vignesh's wedding, Jagannadham finds out that his uncle had committed suicide and reads the suicide note, which explains that his uncle booked an 1800-square-foot flat from Agro Diamond by spending all his savings, but when he went to pay his final installment, he found out that the company is bogus. Due to depression and the harsh words from his own daughter, he committed suicide. Jagannadham finds out from Purushottam about the scam of 900 
crore Crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes the quantity ten million (107) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. In many international contexts, the decimal quantity is formatted as 10,000,000, but when used in the context of the India ...
($138 million) orchestrated by Stephen. When Sameer, who agrees to become the witness in the court, is about to get killed by hitmen hired by Stephen, DJ defeats Stephen and tells him at gunpoint to call his
hitmen Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, monet ...
to abort the mission. Pushpam, who is also involved with Royyala Naidu in his crimes, gets a marriage proposal for Pooja from Naidu's son Avinash. When she meets Avinash in
Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...
, she dislikes him after learning that he has
schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...
. Pooja realizes Jagannadham's love when she returns to India and confesses her love for Jagannadham to Pushpam, who disapproves, citing his status issues in society. Pushpam and Naidu plan to kill Jagannadham. Naidu hires Stephen for the job. Stephen lures Jagannadham with the help of his henchman, but Jagannadham overpowers them and kidnaps Stephen. DJ challenges Naidu that he will find him and make him pay for his crimes; Naidu, who doesn't know about DJ, hires an officer to find out about DJ. Jagannadham forcefully tries to interrogate Stephen about his allies, but in vain. Pooja eventually arrives in Vijayawada to confess her love to Jagannadham and sends photos of her and Jagannadham to Pushpam. Pushpam shows it to Naidu, who gets shocked as Naidu had actually seen DJ when he was threatening Stephen at gunpoint. Naidu tells Pushpam to act like he agreed to the proposal. Naidu dresses up as one of the bodyguards of Pushpam, where Pooja and Jagannadham's families meet each other, and Naidu finally recognizes that Jagannadham is DJ. The next day, Jagannadham's sister and Vignesh are attacked by Naidu's henchman, where they are interrogated about the whereabouts of Stephen, and Jagannadham's family is also troubled by them. Jagannadham finally decides to put an end to Royyala Naidu. Jagannadham sends his family on a pilgrimage to keep them safe. Naidu's henchmen break into the house and ask Jagannadham about the whereabouts of Stephen. They beat him up when Jagannadham asks about their boss. When he is about to get killed, Jagannadham asks Naidu's henchman to remove the holy ''
rudraksha A ''rudraksha'' (IAST: ') refers to the dried Pyrena, stones or seeds of the genus ''Elaeocarpus'' specifically, ''Elaeocarpus ganitrus''. These stones serve as prayer beads for Hinduism, Hindus (especially Shaivism, Shaivas) and Buddhism, Bu ...
'' (which is a penance to his father to not be involved in violence). When the ''rudraksha'' is removed, DJ kills all the goons, who reveal that Naidu is their boss. Jagannadham calls Pooja and reveals himself as DJ and asks her for information about Avinash. Jagannadham goes to Abu Dhabi and uses Avinash with his mental disability to find about Royyala Naidu's location. Naidu kidnaps Purushottam. Avinash arrives at the hideout and beats up Jagannadham for cheating him. Jagannadham shows them the money and turns Avinash against his father. Jagannadham, with the help of Avinash's mental disability, shoots Naidu dead. Stephen Prakash announces to the scam victims to provide them with their houses and their lost income, but Avinash is taken away for police interrogation.


Cast


Production


Development

After the success of ''
Sarrainodu ''Sarrainodu'' () is a 2016 Indian Telugu-language action film directed by Boyapati Srinu and produced by Allu Aravind under Geetha Arts. The film stars Allu Arjun, alongside Aadhi Pinisetty, Rakul Preet Singh, Catherine Tresa, Srikanth, Bra ...
'' (2016),
Allu Arjun Allu Arjun (born 8 April 1982) is an Indian actor who works in Telugu cinema. He is one of the highest-paid actors in Indian cinemaand has been featured in ''Forbes Indias Celebrity 100 list since 2014. Allu Arjun's accolades include a Na ...
announced that he will be collaborating for a Tamil-Telugu bilingual directed by
N. Linguswamy Nammalvar Lingusamy, (born 14 November 1967), is an Indian film director, film producer and screenwriter who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. He made his directorial debut with ''Aanandham'' (2001). He went on to direct ''Run'' (2002), ''S ...
, which was expected to go on floors. Meanwhile, in June 2016, he announced that his next film will be directed by
Harish Shankar Sanganabhatla Harish Shankar (born 31 March 1977) is an Indian film director and screenwriter known for his works exclusively in Telugu cinema, and Telugu drama, Telugu theater. He made his directorial debut with ''Shock (2006 film), Shock'' ( ...
, and produced by
Dil Raju Velamakucha Venkata Ramana Reddy (born 18 December 1970), known professionally as Dil Raju, is an Indian film producer and distributor, who is known for his work in Telugu cinema. He has also financed some Tamil cinema, Tamil and Hindi cinema, ...
. The film marks the second collaboration of Raju, with Arjun after ''
Arya ''Aryan'' (), or ''Arya'' (borrowed from Sanskrit ''ārya''),Oxford English Dictionary Online 2024, s.v. ''Aryan'' (adj. & n.); ''Arya'' (n.)''.'' is a term originating from the ethno-cultural self-designation of the Indo-Iranians. It stood i ...
'' (2004) and ''
Parugu ''Parugu'' () is a 2008 Indian Telugu-language romantic action film written and directed by Bhaskar and was produced by Dil Raju on Sri Venkateswara Creations. The film stars Allu Arjun, Sheela Kaur and Prakash Raj. The music was compos ...
'' (2008). While the makers are yet to finalise the cast and crew members,
Devi Sri Prasad Gandham Sriprasad (2 August 1979), known as Devi Sri Prasad or more commonly by his initials DSP, is an Indian music composer, singer, and lyricist primarily known for his work in Telugu cinema, along with Tamil cinema. He has received numerous ...
announced that he will compose music for the film.
Shruti Haasan Shruti Haasan (born 28 January 1986) is an Indian actress and singer who predominantly works in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi films. One of the highest paid actresses in South Indian cinema, Haasan is the recipient of various accolades, including t ...
and
Kajal Aggarwal Kajal A Kitchlu (née Aggarwal; born 19 June 1985), known professionally as Kajal Aggarwal, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi films. Aggarwal is considered as one of the highest paid actresses of South In ...
were approached to play the lead actress but
Pooja Hegde Pooja Hegde ( born 13 October 1990) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Telugu, Hindi and Tamil films. One of the highest-paid actresses of South Indian cinema, Hegde is a recipient of four SIIMA Awards along with three Filmfare Awar ...
was eventually finalized for that role.
Rao Ramesh Rao Ramesh (born 25 May 1968) is an Indian actor who works primarily in Telugu cinema, Telugu theatre, theatre, and television apart from some Tamil films. He is the son of veteran actor Rao Gopal Rao. Rao Ramesh initially appeared in ''Seema ...
is signed to play Royyalu Naidu, which is based on the character played by Ramesh's father
Rao Gopal Rao Rao Gopal Rao (14 January 1937 – 13 August 1994) was an Indian actor and producer known for his works in Telugu cinema and Telugu theatre. In a film career spanning more than 25 years, Rao starred in over 400 feature films in a variety of c ...
in ''
Aa Okkati Adakku ''Aa Okkati Adakku'' () is a 1992 Indian Telugu-language comedy film directed by E. V. V. Satyanarayana, and produced by M. Saravanan and M. Balasubramaniam under the AVM Productions banner. The film stars Rajendra Prasad, Rambha, and Rao ...
'' (1992). On 28 August 2016, the film makers announced the title of the film as ''Duvvada Jagannatham''. The film was launched on 29 August 2016, at the office of the production house in Hyderabad.


Filming

Principal photography of the film was supposed to commence on 21 October 2016. However, the first leg of the shoot began on 4 November 2016. The filming briefly delayed after Arjun took a break, to spend some quality time with his wife Sneha Reddy, who is expecting her second child. The shooting was later resumed in January 2017. The production crew also chose
Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...
as a filming location, as they would benefit from the Emirate's 30% film production rebate. The film was shot across
Abu Dhabi Global Market Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) is an international financial centre and free zone located on Al Maryah Island in the United Arab Emirates's capital, Abu Dhabi. The financial centre was established in 2013 and became fully operational in Octobe ...
,
Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre The ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi is an exhibition centre in Abu Dhabi. It was opened by Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates on February 18, 2007. It was designed by the international architecture firm, ...
,
Intercontinental Hotel InterContinental Hotels & Resorts by IHG is a British-American luxury hotel brand created in 1946 by Pan Am founder Juan Trippe. It has been part of UK-based InterContinental Hotels Group since 1998. As of January 2023, there were 208 InterCont ...
, Yas Links Golf Club and Galleria Mall. The film team placed a statue of
Lord Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hinduism. Shiva is known as ''The Destroyer' ...
in Chennakeshava Temple in Belur, which was found against the custom and tradition of the temple and was opposed by the temple priests, which led to stall the shoot. The makers planned to shift the shoot to Mysore, until the film team obtained permission from the Department of History and Archaeology for the shoot and resumed it. The film completed the shooting of major action episodes at the aluminum factory in Hyderabad on 21 April 2017. On 15 May 2017, it was announced that the principal shoot of the film got wrapped.


Soundtrack

The film's music is composed by
Devi Sri Prasad Gandham Sriprasad (2 August 1979), known as Devi Sri Prasad or more commonly by his initials DSP, is an Indian music composer, singer, and lyricist primarily known for his work in Telugu cinema, along with Tamil cinema. He has received numerous ...
, who is collaborating with
Harish Shankar Sanganabhatla Harish Shankar (born 31 March 1977) is an Indian film director and screenwriter known for his works exclusively in Telugu cinema, and Telugu drama, Telugu theater. He made his directorial debut with ''Shock (2006 film), Shock'' ( ...
for the second time and with
Allu Arjun Allu Arjun (born 8 April 1982) is an Indian actor who works in Telugu cinema. He is one of the highest-paid actors in Indian cinemaand has been featured in ''Forbes Indias Celebrity 100 list since 2014. Allu Arjun's accolades include a Na ...
for the seventh time. The album consists of five tracks with
Jonnavittula Ramalingeswara Rao Jonnavithula Ramalingeswara Rao is an Indian film lyricist, politician and a poet known for his works in Telugu Cinema. He is also known for his parody songs. He won Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist – Telugu for the film ''Sri Rama Rajyam'' ...
,
Sri Mani Shree Mani (born 15 September 1988), also known as Sri Mani, is an Indian lyricist well known for his works in Telugu cinema and his unique style of lyrics. He won Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist – Telugu for the film '' Attarintiki Daredi'' ...
,
Bhaskarabhatla Bhaskarabhatla Ravi Kumar is an Indian lyricist and a former film journalist who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. He worked for more than 125 films and penned lyrics for more than 390 songs. He extensively worked with director Puri Jagannad ...
, Sahithi and Balaji penning the lyrics. On 3 May 2017, the first single of the film "DJ Saranam Bhaje Bhaje" was released through the YouTube channel of
Aditya Music Aditya Music India Private Limited is an Indian music record label company, which owns the label Aditya Music. It produces music for the Telugu cinema industry and is headquartered at Hyderabad, Telangana. Overview The company was founded b ...
, the music label which bought the film's audio rights. The promo of the song " Gudilo Badilo Madilo Vodilo" was unveiled on 15 May, and two days later, on 17 May 2017, the full song was released and got wide reception. The film's audio was released on 21 May 2017, at
Shilpakala Vedika Shilpakala Vedika is a terracotta auditorium and convention centre located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The auditorium is in area. "Shilpa" means sculpture, ''kala'' means art, and ''vedika'' means platform. Hence it is an art sculpture pl ...
in
Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
. The song " Seeti Maar" was later re-mixed in Salman Khan's film ''Radhe''.


Release

The film's release was originally scheduled for 19 May 2017, but it was postponed to 30 June 2017, due to the delay in the film's production. In April 2017, a new release date was scheduled as 23 June 2017, coinciding with the Ramzan weekend. The theatrical rights of the film were sold to . The film's dubbed versions were released in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi and Bengali.


Reception

''Duvvada Jagannadham'' film received positive response. Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of ''
The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...
'' stated "The film could have been much more gripping but for being punctuated with a handful of songs, quite a few high-decibel ones at that. At 156 minutes, ''DJ'' is bloated and loses its tempo now and then. While some of the dialogues are fun, others make you cringe." She compared the film with
S. Shankar Shankar Shanmugam (born 17 August 1963) is an Indian film director, producer, and screenwriter, primarily known for his work in Tamil cinema. Known as one of the most prominent directors in the history of Indian cinema, he has also worked in H ...
directorial
Gentleman ''Gentleman'' (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man; abbreviated ''gent.'') is a term for a chivalrous, courteous, or honorable man. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire ...
where a
Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...
protagonist moonlights as a thief, steals from the rich and gives to the poor. Srivatsan of ''
India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...
'' wrote that "We get the fact that the masala is very important for this genre. But the scenes that are supposed to leave you misty-eyed end up as comic relief. Jokes fall flat and the mass action blocks are not enough. At the same time, it's impossible to write off Allu Arjun. He's effective in bits; especially when the director wants him to dance and send goons into the air. Someone said that Allu Arjun's body is made of rubber and there can't be a better description. The problem with Duvvada Jagannadham is its half-baked story, which is everything we've seen in Allu Arjun's films earlier. To keep up with DJ's style, Duvvada Jagannadham is "Boring-ah, bore-asya, bore-obiah". Sowmya Sruthi of ''
The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...
'' rated the film 3 out of 5 stars. Manoj Kumar R of ''
The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnath Goenka. In 1999, eight y ...
'' rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "It is a commercial entertainer made by the book and it works to some extent". Hemanth Kumar of ''
Firstpost Firstpost is an Indian news website owned by Network18 Group, which also runs CNN-News18 and CNBC TV18. It has posted misinformation on multiple occasions. The Network 18 group was originally owned by Raghav Bahl. In January 2012, the gro ...
'' gave 2.5 stars rating out of 5 and wrote that "The point is when you try making a new recipe, it’s not merely enough to have all the right ingredients. You’ve to know when to switch off the flame. In the end, when you think about this DJ, it just gets loud, louder, loudest. Thumbs down. But hey, Allu Arjun still dances like a dream!"


Accolades


Notes


References


External links

* {{Harish Shankar 2017 films 2010s Telugu-language films Films directed by Harish Shankar Films scored by Devi Sri Prasad Films shot in Karnataka Films about corruption in India Films shot in Hyderabad, India Films shot in Abu Dhabi Films shot in the United Arab Emirates 2010s vigilante films Indian vigilante films Indian action comedy films 2017 action comedy films Films shot in Vijayawada Films set in Vijayawada 2017 comedy films Sri Venkateswara Creations films Films set in Abu Dhabi