Anji | |
---|---|
Directed by | Kodi Ramakrishna |
Produced by | Shyam Prasad Reddy |
Written by | Satyanand |
Starring |
Chiranjeevi Namrata Shirodkar Tinnu Anand Nagendra Babu M. S. Narayana |
Music by | Mani Sharma |
Cinematography | Chota K. Naidu |
Release date
|
15 January 2004 |
Running time
|
148 minutes |
Country | India |
Language | Telugu |
Budget | ₹300 million (US$4.5 million) |
Anji is a 2004 Telugu mythological fantasy thriller film (dubbed in Tamil as Kolli Malai Singam, Hindi as Diler and in Malayalam as Chekavan) with Chiranjeevi in the lead role. The film was produced by Shyam Prasad Reddy, and received a National Film Award for Best Special Effects. The film was made on a budget of 30 crore, and was officially launched on May 1997. Shooting of the film began on 10 October 1997. The film is actually loosely based on two Hollywood films. The first half is inspired from "Romancing the Stone", a Robert Zemeckis' flick. He's the director of the all time popular trilogy, "Back to the Future". The second is Speilberg's "Indiana Jones-The Last Crusade". However, it has been impressively tailored to cater to the Telugu audience and Chiranjeevi's stardom.
The Aatmalingam of the Himalayas possesses enormous divine powers. Once every 72 years, Akasa Ganga from sky flows into the Aatmalingam. Those who drink the holy water of Akasa Ganga become younger for eternity and gain supernatural powers.
In 1932, a youngster named Bhatia (Bhupinder Singh) attempts to get hold of Atmalingam from a cave but ends up losing his right arm. As time progresses, Bhatia (Tinnu Anand) is now 99 years old. Bhatia searches for the traces of Aatma Lingam, but in vain. The Akasaganga is slated to flow to earth for Atmalingam in 2004 again. Finally he gets to know about a professor who made a lifetime research on Aatmalingam and Akasaganga who possesses vital information in a red diary.
Fearing for his life and this information, the professor sends the diary to his student Swapna (Namrata Shirodkar) who is in USA so that Bhatia will not be able to get divine powers. After receiving the diary, Swapna, sensing danger to her professor, comes back to India in search of her professor only to find him killed. While escaping from Bhatia, she runs into Anji (Chiranjeevi). Anji is a good Samaritan in Uravakonda forest area, who serves the most revered Sivanna (Nagendra Babu)- an ayurvedic specialist while also raising 4 orphans - Akshay Reddy and others.