Punnami Naagu (2009 film)
Punnami Naagu is a 2009 Indian Telugu-language female-centric horror film directed by A. Kodandarami Reddy in Telugu and Yaar Kannan in Tamil.[1] Mumaith Khan plays dual roles as a snakewoman and a city woman.[2] The film was later shot in Tamil as Pournami Nagam (2010) with Karunas replacing Rajiv Kanakala as the male lead.[3]
| Punnami Naagu | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | A. Kodandarami Reddy (Telugu) Yaar Kannan (Tamil) |
| Written by | Yaar Kannan (Tamil dialogues) |
| Screenplay by | A. Kodandarami Reddy |
| Story by | Yandamuri Veerendranath |
| Produced by | G. Vijay Kumar Goud |
| Starring | Mumaith Khan |
| Cinematography | P. N. Babu (Telugu) Bernard S David (Tamil) |
| Edited by | Nandamuri Hari (Telugu) Rajkeerthi (Tamil) |
| Music by | S. A. Rajkumar |
Production companies | Sound & Clap (Telugu) Bharath Cine Media (Tamil) |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 119 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Languages | Telugu Tamil |
Cast
- Mumaith Khan as the female snake (Nagamani in Telugu, Naga Kanni in Tamil) / Honey (Manasa in Tamil), a model. People from the village think that Honey is a devadasi.[2]
- Nizhagal Ravi as Honey's father who is a sincere police officer
- Nalini as Mayadevi Bhairavi (Kaandhari in Tamil), the witch[2]
- Sajid Khan
- Suhasini as Kajal
- Delhi Ganesh as a priest
- Vinod Kumar Alva as one of the poachers
- Madhusudhan Rao as one of the poachers
- Telugu version
- Rajiv Kanakala as Rajiv
- Srinivasa Reddy
- M. S. Narayana as Kajal's uncle
- Aditya Om as Naagraj, the male snake
- Manobala as a police officer
- Shankar Melkote as Dr. Pallalokam
- Venu Madhav
- Tamil version
- Karunas
- Mayilsamy
- Manobala as Swamy
- Jayashree
- Adithya as Jagan
- Vennira Aadai Moorthy as a lawyer
- Aarthi as a police officer
- Balu Anand as a priest
- Kadhal Dhandapani
- Nellai Siva
Production
A childhood scene regarding Mumaith Khan's character was shot in Tamil Nadu.[2]
Soundtrack
Music by S. A. Rajkumar. The Telugu version features a remix of "Ragulutondi" from Khaidi (1983).[4]
Reception
Regarding the Telugu version, Jeevi of Idlebrain.com gave the film a rating of one-and-a-half out of five and wrote that "[i]t is for the people who still want to see bhakti cinemas made on snakes".[5]
Regarding the Tamil version, Behindwoods also gave the film a rating of one and half stars out of five and stated that, "The story is quite rundown and albeit falling in the fantasy genre fails to convince the viewer, or rather makes the viewer forget the fact that the plot is ridden with loopholes and devoid of any clever twist".[6]
References
- Dhusiya, Mithuraaj (13 September 2017). Indian Horror Cinema: (En)gendering the Monstrous. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781351386487 – via Google Books.
- Khanna, Ritam. "LET THE GHOST SPEAK: A STUDY OF CONTEMPORARY INDIAN HORROR CINEMA" – via www.academia.edu.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - "Pournami Nagam's success - Tamil Movie News - Pournami Nagam | Kannan | Bharathi Raja | VC Guhanathan | Mumaith Khan | Karunas Siva Shakthi Pandian - Behindwoods.com". www.behindwoods.com.
- "Punnami Naagu: Reptile repulsion". Bangalore Mirror. 11 April 2009.
- "Punnami Nagu review - Telugu cinema Review - Mumaith Khan & Rajiv Kanakala". www.idlebrain.com.
- "POURNAMI NAGAM REVIEW - TAMIL MOVIE POURNAMI NAGAM REVIEW". www.behindwoods.com.