Panjaa

Jai is a Kolkata-based hitman working for a don named Bhagavan, and they together share a business rivalry with Kulkarni. Bhagavan's psychotic son Munna returns to India after 8 years.

Apart from his gangster life, Jai also owns a nursery where he raises variety of plants along with his friend Chotu. He also appoints a plant caretaker Sandhya. Jai 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 the accountant Sabapathy and humiliates him by urinating on Sabapathy 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 brother Sampath. He asks Guruvayya to hold Rahul hostage at a club until he is back with Sabapathy. Jai demands a meeting with Sabapathy in exchange for Rahul's freedom. Sabapathy tells him he switched sides not to retaliate, but to protect himself. Munna, on the other hand, visits the club and is attracted to club dancer named Jhanvi 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, 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 is on his way attacked by the henchmen as per Bhagavan's orders. Following a gunfight, Jai escapes while Bhagavan vows to seek revenge for Munna's death. Jai escapes to Palasa, where he stays at his love interest 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 nursery he used to run with the help of his friend Chotu, and gets it destroyed by his men upon learning about Chotu.

Back at Palasa, some goons invade their home at night, Ashok and Jai together 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 cop 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 Chotu's 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. Jai is soon attacked by Sampath and his henchmen, but Ashok arrives to his rescue. Following a gunfight and a brawl, Jai kills Sampath and learns Sandhya has been kidnapped. Jai goes back to Kolkata and attacks Kulkarni's house, where he kills his henchmen and holds Kulkarni on gunpoint. Kulkarni tells him he hasn't kidnapped Sandhya, and it was Guruvayya who told them about Jai's location. Jai proceeds to first kill Kulkarni and then Guruvayya, following which he arrives at Bhagavan's house and finds Sandhya held captive. Jai reveals why he killed Munna and tries to convince Bhagavan into sparing Sandhya. However, Bhagavan ends up shooting her, and Jai ends up shooting Bhagavan. Sandhya survives and unites with Jai, but Bhagavan dies from his injuries.

For the film's score and soundtrack, Vishnuvardhan's friend and usual associate, Yuvan Shankar Raja, was signed up. Panjaa's soundtrack features six tracks. Chandrabose and Ramajogayya Sastry penned the lyrics for every three songs. The composing began in late January 2011. The soundtrack album was originally planned to be launched on 6 November 2011 but was postponed due to the sudden demise of Yuvan Shankar Raja's mother.[28] The audio launch was held on 18 November 2011 in a grand manner at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad. Along with the cast and crew, noted film personalities including directors K. Raghavendra Rao and S. S. Rajamouli, composer M. M. Keeravani and actor Rana Daggubati attended the function,[29] which was anchored by comedian Ali and Suma Kanakala.[30] The event was broadcast live on MAA TV.[31]

Upon release, the songs generally garnered positive response.[32] The songs became chartbusters, with the title track Panjaa becoming the most played song in all Hyderabad radio channels,[33] as well as the song of the year.[34] 123Telugu gave a positive response stating "Pawan Kalyan has tried out a new look for this movie and the buzz in the industry is that ‘Panjaa’ is going to be very different from his earlier flicks. The audio album reflects this. Yuvan's music is very different and modern. There are some pretty good numbers in this album. The title track ‘Panjaa’ absolutely rocks. ‘Ela Ela’ and ‘Paparayudu’ will be quite popular too. A better item number would have been a major asset. Do not expect a regular Pawan Kalyan style audio album this time. Listen to this album with an open mind and you will appreciate the music."[32] The background music that plays while Pawan Kalyan drives his car to Kulkarni's house to save Sabhapathy is similar to Yuvan Shankar Raja's background music from Billa (2007). In 2013, the film's music director Yuvan Shankar Raja reused the background score in the Tamil-language film Ameerin Aadhi-Bhagavan.

Prior to its release, the film's official merchandise was made available on the official site, including a game application.[35][36][37] 15% of the merchandise sales were donated to major NGOs.[38] An anti-piracy initiative was also launched through the site itself.[39] The film's official merchandise was also released across Andhra Pradesh.[40] A teaser trailer was released a day prior to Diwali, which received a high response. According to Sify, it was seen more than 200,000 times on the film's official YouTube channel within 24 hours, setting a new record.[41]

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.[42][43] The film was released on 9 December 2011 with six cuts.[44] Following multiple fan requests, the makers added the title track in the beginning as well, while it initially played only during the end.[45]

In 2012, the film was released on DVD and Blu-ray formats by Bhavani DVD.[46][47] The same year, a Tamil-dubbed version titled Kuri (transl. Mark) was also scheduled to release, but the plan was later on dropped.[48][49] In 2015, a Hindi-dubbed version titled Jaandaar (transl. Brave) was released.[50] The film was also dubbed in Malayalam as Paayum.

• Official website
• Panjaa at IMDb