Anji (film)

Anji
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Kodi Ramakrishna
Written by	Satyanand
Produced by	Shyam Prasad Reddy
Starring	Chiranjeevi Namrata Shirodkar Tinnu Anand Nagendra Babu
Cinematography	Chota K. Naidu
Edited by	Degeesh Kumar, Swapnil S
Music by	Mani Sharma
Production company	M. S. Art Movies
Release date	15 January 2004 (2004-01-15)
Running time	148 minutes
Country	India
Language	Telugu
Box office	₹5 crores[1]

Anji is a 2004 Indian Telugu-language fantasy action film directed by Kodi Ramakrishna form a screenplay by Satyanand. Produced by Shyam Prasad Reddy, the film stars Chiranjeevi and Namrata Shirodkar while Tinnu Anand and Nagendra Babu play supporting roles. The film has music composed by Mani Sharma with cinematography by Chota K. Naidu.

The film is adapted from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Though the film is noted for its special effects, it was not commercially successful owing to its high budget.^[2] In addition to two Nandi Awards, the film received National Film Award for Best Special Effects, becoming the first Telugu film to win a National Award in that category.

Plot[]

The Aatmalingam of the Himalayas possesses enormous divine powers. Once every 72 years, the Akasa Ganga from the sky flows into Aatmalingam. Those who drink Akasaganga's holy water become immortal and gain supernatural powers.

In 1932, during the colonial rule in India a youngster named Bhatia with two greedy tantriks is in search for the Atmalingam from a cave which is guarded by a divine trishul & a gigantic cobra. They try to bring it but failed, resulting in the deaths of the two tantriks & Bhatia losing his right hand. The sacred Aatmalingam gets swept away in the river & becomes invisible. Time progresses and Bhatia, now 99 years old, searches for the Aatmalingam's traces, but in vain. The Akasaganga is slated to flow to the earth for the Atmalingam in 2004. Finally, he gets to know about a professor who researched the Aatmalingam and Akasaganga and possesses vital information in a red diary.

Fearing for his life and this information, the professor sends the diary to his student Swapna, who is in the USA, so that Bhatia will not be able to become immortal. After receiving the journal, Swapna, sensing danger to her professor, comes back to India in search of him, only to find him killed. While escaping from Bhatia, she runs into Anji, a Good Samaritan in the Uravakonda forest area, which serves the most revered Sivanna, an ayurvedic specialist, while also raising four orphans.

One day, Anji stumbles on the Aatmalingam and takes its possession. After coming to know about it, Bhatia and his men are after Anji and Swapna. As the D-Day of Akasaganga is fast approaching, Sivanna tells Anji that the Aatmalingam should be sent back to where it belongs. So, Anji goes to the Himalayas to restore Aatmalingam in a temple which is built using Shaligram by Bhagiratha. The temple becomes visible only after 72 years. Anji faces many traps in the temple and survives to restore the Aatmalingam. But Bhatia drinks the water before Anji could drink it. One of the orphans gets shot. Anji and Bhatia get into a fight, and at last, Mahakalabhairava appears and kills Bhatia using his third eye. Anji manages to run from the temple, and a drop of the holy water revives the orphan who had been shot by Bhatia. Anji, Swapna and the four orphans return to their home in a helicopter, and the Aatmalingam and the temple vanish, never to be seen again.

Cast[]

Production[]

The film was officially launched in May 1997. The shooting of the film began on 10 October 1997.

Soundtrack[]

All music is composed by Mani Sharma^[3].

Reception[]

Sify rated the film 3/5 and wrote, "Despite all those special effects the film is unimpressive as the subject and style is outdated."^[4]

Awards[]

National Film Awards

• Best Special Effects – Sanath

Nandi Awards

• Best Cinematographer – Chota K. Naidu
• Best Makeup Artist – Chandra Rao^[5]

References[]

External links[]

• Anji at IMDb