Duvvada Jagannadham or DJ is a 2017 Indian Telugu-language vigilante-action comedy film written and directed by Harish Shankar and produced by Dil Raju under his banner Sri Venkateswara Creations. The film stars Allu Arjun and Pooja Hegde. Devi Sri Prasad composed the film's music while Ayananka Bose handled the cinematography.
Principal photography commenced in August 2016 in Hyderabad.[2] The production crew also chose Abu Dhabi as a filming location,[3]as they would benefit from the Emirate's 30% film production rebate.[4]
The film grossed approximately ₹115.10 crore in its theatrical run.[1]
The film was later dubbed into Malayalam as Dhruvaraja Jagannadh and released in Keralaon 11 August 2017. The film was also later dubbed into Hindi as DJ by Goldmines Telefilms and released on YouTube on 19 November 2017 with Allu Arjun's voice dubbed by Sanket Mhatre.
Plot
Duvvada Jagannatham Shastri (Allu Arjun) is a cook, working as a caterer in Vijayawadaalong with his family.Jagannatham rescues a high-profile cop (Murali Sharma) from the attack of a crime mafia in Hyderabad. Seeing the quality of a rebellion in the priest, and his sharp shooting skills, the cop trains the priest to become DJ, an undercover officet who fights crime in disguise of a Brahmin priest. Jagannadham falls in love with Pooja (Pooja Hegde) the daughter of a corrupt home minister (Posani Krishna Murali) involved with yet another real estate crime lord Royyala Naidu (Rao Ramesh) who operates Naidu Industries, and Agro Diamond Financing company in disguise. On the other hand, DJ decides to take on Royyala Naidu in his mission but does not know who he is in actual life. Rest of the story is as how Duvvada Jagannadham uses Royyala Naidu's son Royyala Avinash (Subbaraju) who suffers with Histrionic personality disorder, and through him DJ destroys Royyala Naidu's corrupt business empire, thereby rescuing Agro Diamond scam victims.
Cast
- Allu Arjun as Duvvada Jagannadham Shastri (Dhruvaraja Jagannadh in Malayalam version / Dhruv Jagannath in Hindi version) alias DJ
- Pooja Hegde[5] as Pooja
- Chandra Mohan as DJ's uncle
- Rao Ramesh as Royyala Naidu (Royal Naidu in Hindi version)
- Murali Sharma as Purushottam
- Posani Krishna Murali as Home minister Pushpam
- Subbaraju as Royyala Avinash / Chanti
- Tanikella Bharani as Duvvada Subrahmanyam Shastri
- Vennela Kishore as Akella Vigneshwara Sharma
- Hari Teja as DJ's elder sister
- Rama Krishna Shatru as Badda Stephen Prakash
- Prabhakar as Suri
- Vidyullekha Raman as Katyayini
- Sameer Hasan as Agro Diamond CEO
- Shashank
Production
Initially Shruti Haasan and Kajal Aggarwalwere approached to play the lead actress, but Pooja Hegde was finalised for that role.[6]
The film team placed a statue of Lord Shiva in Chennakeshava Temple in Belur. This is against the custom and tradition of the temple, and was opposed by the temple priests.[7] The film team obtained permission from the Department of History and Archaeology for the shoot and resumed it.[8]The film completed the shooting of major action episodes at the aluminum factory in Hyderabad on 21 April 2017.
