''Johnny'' is a 2003 Indian

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

-language martial-arts film written and directed by

Pawan Kalyan Pawan Kalyan (born Konidela Kalyan Babu; 2 September is an Indian actor, filmmaker, and politician. His films are predominantly in Telugu cinema. Kalyan is the younger brother of actor-ex.politician Chiranjeevi, and made his debut in the 1996 ...

. Produced by

Allu Aravind Allu Aravind (born 10 January 1949) is an Indian film producer and distributor in Telugu cinema under his banner Geetha Arts. He co-owns the Indian Super League club ''Kerala Blasters FC''. A part of the Allu–Konidela family, Aravind is th ...

, the film starred Pawan Kalyan in the

title role The title character in a Narrative, narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piece. The ...

, while

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 ...

Raghuvaran Raghuvaran Velayutham (11 December 1958 – 19 March 2008) was an Indian actor who predominantly acted in films made in South India. He has acted in more than 200 Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films. According to the ''Hindustan T ...

, and

Raza Murad Raza Murad (born 23 November 1950) is an Indian actor who appears primarily in Hindi films. He has over 250 Bollywood film credits. Murad has also appeared in Bhojpuri and other regional-language films and on Hindi television. Early life He i ...

played pivotal roles. The film revolves around a martial arts coach who decides to use his skills to earn prize money in competitions required to save his wife suffering from

blood cancer Tumors of the hematopoietic and lymphoid tissues (American English) or tumours of the haematopoietic and lymphoid tissues (British English) are tumors that affect the blood, bone marrow, lymph, and lymphatic system. Because these tissues are all ...

. Johnny was released on April 25, 2003, to mixed to mostly negative reviews.

acting was praised but the film didn't do well at the box office becoming one of the disasters in the Telugu film industry.It gained cult status. It also became the first-ever Telugu film to be released with over 250 prints worldwide including the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The film was screened at the

International Film Festival of India The International Film Festival of India (IFFI), founded in 1952, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. Held annually, currently in the state of Goa, on the western coast of the country, the festival aims at providing a common pla ...

Plot

Johnny loses his mother when he was a kid. He runs away from his alcoholic father Ravishankar and dysfunctional family. Years later, from a small time

club fighter A club fighter (or clubfighter) is a professional boxer who usually fights locally and has a mediocre record. Club fighters generally are not nationally recognized and have not won any fights that show the ability to win a championship. The term ...

, Johnny becomes a

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

coach. One day, a woman named Geetha lodges a police complaint on Johnny for beating up a man. Later, she discovers that it was a misunderstanding. Both become friends and eventually get married. After marriage, Johnny finds out that his wife is suffering from leukemia. He relocates to

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

to pay for her medical treatment and finds himself in dire need to pay for the medical expenses. While competing at an amateur

kickboxing Kickboxing is a combat sports, combat sport focused on kicking and punch (strike), punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is pract ...

competition, Johnny is bought out by the organizer Tatya for a lump some offer to compete with two international martial artists. Johnny defeats them and earns a sum of overnight, which he uses for Geeta's treatment.

Cast

Soundtrack

The music for the film was composed by

Ramana Gogula Ramana Gogula (born Gogula Ramana Murthy) is an Indo-American music composer and singer of film music and Indian pop, entrepreneur, and venture capitalist. His notable film compositions include ''Premante Idera'' (1998), ''Thammudu'' (1999), '' ...

. The song "Ee Reyi Theyanadi" is based on the '' Chitti Chellelu'' (1970) song of the same name which itself was based on the French song ''

L'amour est bleu "L'amour est bleu" (; "Love Is Blue") is a song whose music was composed by André Popp, and whose lyrics were written by Pierre Cour, in 1967. Bryan Blackburn later wrote English-language lyrics for it. First performed in French by Greek sing ...

'' (1967).

Distribution rights

''Johnny'' worldwide distribution rights were sold for a record breaking amount of 8.1

crore A crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes ten million (10,000,000 or 107 in scientific notation) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. It is written as 1,00,00,000 with the local 2,2,3 style of digit group separators (one lakh is e ...

. ''Johnny'' was released in 325 Theaters worldwide with digital print quality.

References

External links

{{IMDb title, id=0316062 2000s action drama films 2000s sports drama films 2003 drama films 2003 films 2003 martial arts films Films about alcoholism Films about dysfunctional families Films about women in India Films set in Mumbai Geetha Arts films Indian action drama films Indian films about cancer Indian martial arts films Indian sports drama films Kickboxing films Mixed martial arts films Sports films based on actual events 2000s Telugu-language films