''James Pandu'' is a 2000 Indian

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

-language

action comedy film Action comedy is a genre that combines aspects of action and comedy. The genre is most prevalent in film with action comedy films, though several TV series fit this genre. Film The action comedy film is a film genre that combines aspects of acti ...

directed by

Selva Selva () is a coastal comarque (county) in Catalonia, Spain, located between the mountain range known as the Serralada Transversal or Puigsacalm and the Costa Brava (part of the Mediterranean coast). Unusually, it is divided between the provinc ...

. The film stars

Parthiban R. Parthiban (born 14 October 1958) is an Indian actor and filmmaker who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He has directed 15 films, produced 13 films and acted in more than 70 films. He started his career as assistant director for K. Bhagyaraj in ...

Prabhu Deva Prabhu Deva (born 3 April 1973) is an Indian dance choreographer, film director, producer and actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada language films. In a career spanning 32 years, he has performed and designed a ...

, Kausalya and

Renu Desai Renu Desai is an Indian actress, costume designer, and former model. Personal life Renu Desai's mother tongue is Marathi, but she is also fluent in Telugu. She has a son, born in 2004 with Telugu actor Pawan Kalyan, whom she married on 28 Jan ...

. The film opened to mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

James and Pandu are porters. Though they were inseparable friends before, there is no love lost between them now. James is in love with Renu, while Kausalya, a mute, has feelings for Pandu. A chit fund company owner hires James to 'steal' a bag of money from himself so he could abscond with the money, but his manager hires Pandu to steal the bag from James. When James and Pandu lay their hands on the money, they become friends again and decide to split the money. However, the company owner is found murdered, and they become the prime suspects. In the climax, Raghavachari comes to court and tells the truth that he killed the company owner because the latter would cheat many people. James and Pandu are both proven innocent.

Cast

Production

The film saw Parthiban and Prabhu Deva acting together for first time, though they appeared previously together in ''

Suyamvaram ''Suyamvaram'' () is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language comedy drama film starring an ensemble cast from actors in the Tamil film industry and shot by a large technical team from the industry. The film was planned by Giridharilal Nagpal who produced ...

'' but they didn't have any scenes together. Selva had initially titled the film as ''Whistle'', before renaming the project.

Isha Koppikar Isha Koppikar (born 19 September 1976) is an Indian actress, model and politician who has mostly appeared in Hindi cinema. She has also acted in several Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Marathi films. Background Koppikar was born in Mahim, Bombay (n ...

was initially cast in the film, but dropped out and was replaced by

. Title of the film is a spoof on Hollywood's famous character

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

. The first shot was taken at the Arunachalam studios. The unit picturised two songs in the snowy and hilly areas of Gangtok in Sikkim. There at a height of 14,000 feet is based an army camp, reported the highest situated army camp in the world. The unit, that got the permission to shoot there, had much difficulty picturising the songs in the cold hilly area, but have returned triumphant. Participating in the songs were Prabhu Deva and Renu. A ten days shooting schedule in Chennai followed by shooting, at places like Hyderabad, Chalakkudi and Mercara. Television premiered was occurred in April 20' 2003 for as usual Normal weekend Sunday premier.

Soundtrack

Soundtrack was composed by S. A. Rajkumar.

Reception

''India Info'' wrote "In the name of comedy the two heroes indulge in so many senseless antics that it makes you sick. As the story is credited to R Parthipan he is solely responsible for this disaster". ''The Hindu'' wrote "A film that begins on an interesting note but soon dwindles into something different". ''Kalki'' wrote "In order to make a comedy, the makers have chosen a plot with thriller which is quite strong, they could have made a thriller instead of comedy".

References

External links

{{Selva (director) 2000 films Films shot in Sikkim 2000s Tamil-language films Indian comedy thriller films Films scored by S. A. Rajkumar Films shot in Chennai Films shot in Kerala Films shot in Thrissur Films shot in Chalakudy Films shot in Hyderabad, India Films directed by Selva (director)