Pani (film)

Pani
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Joju George
Written by	Joju George
Produced by	M. Riaz Adam Sijo Vadakkan
Starring	Joju George Sagar Surya Junaiz V. P.
Cinematography	Venu ISC Jinto George
Edited by	Manu Antony
Music by	Songs: Vishnu Vijay Sam C. S Santhosh Narayanan Score: Sam C. S Santhosh Narayanan
Production companies	AD Studios Appu Pathu Pappu
Distributed by	Sree Gokulam Movies Dream Big Films Phars Film (Overseas) Yash Raj Films (UK/Europe)
Release date	24 October 2024 (2024-10-24)
Running time	143 minutes
Country	India
Language	Malayalam
Box office	₹25 crore

Pani (transl. Job) is a 2024 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film written and directed by Joju George (in his directorial debut). The film stars Joju George, Sagar Surya, Junaiz V. P., Bobby Kurian, Abhinaya, Abhaya Hiranmayi, Seema, Chandini Sreedharan, Prashanth Alexander, Sujith Shankar and Rinosh George. The film features music composed by Vishnu Vijay, Sam C. S. and Santhosh Narayanan

Principal photography commenced on 9 October 2023 in Thrissur, Kerala. Pani was released in theatres on 24 October 2024 and was a commercial success at box office.

Cast

• Joju George as Giri
• Sagar Surya as Don Sebastian
• Junaiz V. P. as Siju K. T.
• Bobby Kurian as 'Warrant' Davi, Giri's business partner
• Abhinaya as Gowry, Giri's wife
• Abhaya Hiranmayi as Jaya, Davi's Wife
• Seema as Mangalath Devaki Amma, Giri's mother
• Chandini Sreedharan as ACP Kalyani Prakash, Giri's cousin
• Prashanth Alexander as Kuruvila, Giri's brother in law and partner
• Sujith Shankar as Saji, Giri's brother and partner
• Ranjith Velayudhan as Commissioner
• Anoop Krishnan as Joshi
• Jayaraj Warrier as himself
• Babu Namboothiri as murdered person's brother
• Bitto Davis as witness to ATM murder
• Jayashankar Karimuttom as Don's father
• Lanka Lakshmi
• Sona Maria Abraham as Giri's sister, Kuruvila's wife
• Dr Merlet Ann Thomas as Don's love interest
• Rinosh George as Kalyani's fiancé
• Ramesh Girija as Suni
• Ashraf Mallisery as Aashan

Production

Development

The film marks the directorial debut of Joju George. The film was officially announced in October 2023. On 16 December 2023, Joju George announced his collaboration with several newcomers for this project. M Riaz Adam and Sijo Vadakkan jointly produced the movie. Venu ISC joined the team to handle cinematography, while editor was Manu Antony.

Casting

Joju George was signed to direct and play a lead role in this film. Some of the major cast members were selected from Bigg Boss Malayalam Season 5, such as Junaiz V. P. and Sagar Surya.

Abhinaya plays the female lead in this movie. The cast also includes Abhaya Hiranmayi, Seema, Chandini Sreedharan, Prashanth Alexander, Sujith Shankar in prominent roles.

Filming

Principal photography began on 9 October 2023, with a puja ceremony. It took more than 100 days to complete the shoot, wrapping up on 27 February 2024. Shooting took place in and around Thrissur, Kerala.

Music

The songs were composed by Vishnu Vijay, Sam C. S. and Santhosh Narayanan, while the background score was composed by Sam C. S. and Santhosh Narayanan. Muhsin Parari penned the lyrics for all the songs in the film.

No.	Title	Length

Controversy

On 1 November 2024, Joju George reportedly threatened a film reviewer who posted negative reviews about his film on social media. The reviewer who introduced himself as Adarsh H. S. said Joju contacted him over the phone and threatened him for spreading spoilers over different social media platforms and criticising the adult scenes in his film.

Release

Pani was released in theatres on 24 October 2024.

Critical reception

Swathi P. Ajith of Onmanorama wrote that "the movie is undoubtedly a mass entertainer that seeks to tap into your emotions, skillfully triggerring various feelings throughout". Sanjith Sidhardhan of OTT Play rated 3.5 out of 5 stars, stating that "Joju George aces the directorial test with Pani, which turns into a thrilling ride once it gets going. Backed by solid performances and good writing, Joju makes a confident debut as a director". Anna Mathews of The Times of India rated 3 out of 5 stars and said: "With violence being the new hero of massy entertainers, Joju is probably giving audiences what they want and he succeeds fairly well in this". S. R. Praveen of The Hindu stated that "Joju George's gory drama works despite its typical revenge plot" as "[Joju] has quite a hold on the progression of events which keeps coming at almost the right pace and timing".

Rating 3 in a scale of 5, Vignesh Madhu of The New Indian Express wrote that "Despite some generic writing and blips in crafting a thrilling latter half, Joju makes an assured debut with Pani [...] Sagar Surya and Junaiz V. P. are exceptional as the antagonists, elevating the film’s otherwise generic writing". Anandu Suresh of The Indian Express gave 2.5 out of 5 stars and said: "While the first act is solid, suggesting that Joju George is on track to deliver an outstanding actioner, the script falters very soon and begins bombarding viewers with stale moments, incidents and dialogues". Latha Srinivasan of Hindustan Times wrote that "Joju George has made a good directorial debut, and Pani presents it well on screen, even though the story is not new for the audience".

External links

• Pani at IMDb