Nijam
Nijam (transl. Truth) is a 2003 Indian Telugu-language action film produced & directed by Teja on Chitram Movies banner. The film stars Mahesh Babu, Rakshita, Gopichand, and Raasi, with music was composed by R. P. Patnaik. Initially Jyothika was considered as the lead role but was later replaced. Mahesh Babu and Rameshwari won the Nandi Awards in Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress categories respectively. It was remade as Arjuna in Odia starring Anubhav Mohanty and Gargi Mohanty and also was later remade as Top Leader in Bangladesh starring Shakib Khan.
Nijam | |
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Movie Poster | |
Directed by | Teja |
Produced by | Teja |
Written by | Teja |
Starring | Mahesh Babu Rakshita Gopichand Raasi |
Music by | R. P. Patnaik |
Cinematography | Sameer Reddy |
Edited by | Shankar |
Production company | Chitram Movies |
Release date |
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Running time | 186 minutes |
Country | India |
Language | Telugu |
Budget | ₹6.5 crore (US$910,000) |
Box office | ₹10 crore (US$1.4 million) (Share) |
Plot
Sidda Reddy (Jaya Prakash Reddy) is a powerful mafia leader whose right hand is Devudu (Gopichand). Devudu has a lover called Malli (Raasi). Reddy, who also likes Malli, takes her to the bed, which is not liked by Devudu. In the process, Devudu kills Reddy and becomes the leader of the mafia gang. Venkateswarlu (Ranganath) is a fire officer. In an incident, Devudu sets a marketplace on fire and Venkateswarlu rescues it with his firefighting, and at the same time, Venkateswarlu slaps Devudu, as he continues throwing kerosene at the marketplace. Devudu holds a grudge against Venkateswarlu and sends him to jail on a framed charge of murder of Malli's brother Baddu (Suman Setty). G. Seetaram (Mahesh Babu), Venkateswarlu's son, tries to rescue his father from the jaws of police. But in the process, everybody starts asking him for a bribe to do the work. At the end of the day, the police officer and Devudu kill Venkateswarlu. The rest of the story is about how Seetaram's mother (Talluri Rameswari) takes revenge on the people responsible for the death of her husband with the help of her son Seetaram. The criminals involved in the crime of his father's death are killed one after the other by the mother and son in a planned and scientific manner. This film tells about an innocent boy, who, along with his mother undergoes injustice and also loses his father in this process. The mother in this situation plays the role of a trainer and guide to her son, making him strong physically and emotionally, to fight back.
Cast
- Mahesh Babu as G. Seetaram
- Rakshita as Janki
- Gopichand as Devadaya Sharma "Devudu"
- Raasi as Malli
- Prakash Raj as ACP Raja Narendra
- Jaya Prakash Reddy as Sidda Reddy
- Ranganath as G. Venkateswarlu, Sitaram's father
- Rameshwari as Shanti, Sitaram's mother
- Brahmaji as C.I.
- Vijayachander as DGP
- Jeeva as DCP Murali Krishna
- Suman Setty as Baddu
- Kanta Rao as Social Worker Narayana Rao
- Rallapalli as Butcher
- Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam as Traffic Constable
- Kondavalasa as Sitaram's neighbor
- Duvvasi Mohan as Patil
- Tirupathi Prakash
- Shakeela
- Mani Chandana as an item number Rathalu
- Alapati Lakshmi
- Master Ghatamaneni Jaya Krishna as Young Sitaram
Soundtrack
Nijam | ||||
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Soundtrack album by | ||||
Released |
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Recorded | 2003 | |||
Genre | Soundtrack | |||
Length | 33:54 | |||
Label | Aditya Music | |||
Producer | R. P. Patnaik | |||
R. P. Patnaik chronology | ||||
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Music was composed by R. P. Patnaik. Lyrics were penned by Kula Shekar. Music was released on Aditya Music.
No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Chandamama Raave" | R. P. Patnaik, Usha | 3:39 |
2. | "Rathalu Rathalu" | R. P. Patnaik, Usha | 4:15 |
3. | "Neelo Unnadi" | R. P. Patnaik, Usha | 4:01 |
4. | "Chi Chi Ante" | R. P. Patnaik, Usha | 4:13 |
5. | "Dhandakam" | Gopichand, Gangadhara Sastry | 1:53 |
6. | "Ilage Ilage" | R. P. Patnaik, Usha | 3:54 |
7. | "Kakulu Durani" | R. P. Patnaik, Ravi Varma | 1:48 |
8. | "Abhimanyudu" | Group Song | 1:52 |
9. | "Chara Chara" | Usha, Murthy | 4:04 |
10. | "Rangu Rangula" | R. P. Patnaik | 4:08 |
Total length: | 33:54 |
Legacy
The film was also dubbed into Tamil as Nijam, and then again in 2012 as Seerum Singam.[1] The film was dubbed as Meri Adalat in Hindi in 2008, in Bengali as Aamar Protishodh and in Bhojpuri as Hamaar Faisla. It was remade as Arjuna in Oriya starring Anubhab Mohanty and Gargi Mohanty & Bangladesh as Top Leader starring Shakib Khan.
Reception and collections
Idlebrain Jeevi in his review gave a rating of 3 out of 5 for the movie with concluding remarks "Overall, it's an average film that has chances to become hit because of the Teja's mass-attracting episodes and Mahesh Babu's brilliant portrayal of the character".[2]
Director Teja in an interview said "We made Nijam in a budget of 6.5 cr INR; We sold audio rights for 2 cr INR and movie initially were sold for a total of 26 cr INR. In total, we made a profit of 5-6 cr INR and Nijam was not a flop".[3] He corroborated the same in an interview with The Hindu "I worked with Mahesh after he had a flop called Bobby, but Nijam released after Okkadu and people drew comparisons. I don’t argue when people say Nijam was a flop. The film was made with a budget of Rs. 6.5 crore and sold for Rs. 21 crore. I repaid money to whoever lost money and still made a huge profit".[4]
Awards
Won
Nominated
- Filmfare Award for Best Actor - Mahesh Babu
- Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress - Telugu - Taluri Rameswari
- CineMAA Award for Best Actor - Male - Mahesh Babu
- CineMAA Award for Best Film - Teja
References
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 January 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "Telugu Cinema – Review – Nijam – Mahesh Babu, Raasi, Rakshit – Teja – RP Patnaik – Kulasekhar". idlebrain.com. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
- "teja about Mahesh babu nijam". newtelugunews.com. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
- https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/director-teja-hora-hori/article7534922.ece
- "Nandi Awards 2003". Idlebrain.com. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
- "Telugu CineMaa Awards 2003". Idlebrain.com. Retrieved 17 May 2013.