Ajay (2006 film)

Ajay is a 2006 Indian Kannada-language action film starring Puneeth Rajkumar, Anuradha Mehta and Prakash Raj. It was Anuradha's debut Kannada film. The film is a remake of the Telugu film Okkadu (2003) with some scenes reused from Ghilli (2004). The film was a success.

Plot
Ajay is a Bangalore-based Kabbadi player, the son of DCP Kumaraswamy, visits Hubli to take part in a state-level tournament. In Hubli, Ajay saves Padma from Veerabhadra, a dangerous faction leader, who wants to marry her against her wishes. Ajay learns that Padma is trying to leave for the US for pursuing higher education after Veerabhadra killed her brothers, when they refuse to marry their sister to Veerabhadra due to age gap. In the process of saving Padma, Ajay humiliates Veerabhadra by pushing him into a mud pond.

Veerabhadra refuses to cleanse the mud until Padma is brought back. Ajay helps Padma escape and takes her to his house, hiding her in his room with the help of his sister Asha. However, Ajay's parents find out she is hiding in their house. Padma and Ajay run away again and the duo, along with Ajay's friends, reaches the airport to help Padma relocate to US. They bring her parents to see her one last time before she leaves.

After Padma passed the airport security, Ajay realises his love for Padma. Padma shows up and proposes to him. At the airport, Kumaraswamy arrests Ajay while Veerabhadra's men take Padma away. After Padma taunts Veerabhadra by saying that Ajay will definitely come for her, Veerabhadra goes to the prison and asks Ajay to come with him. Veerabhadra and his henchmen are kidnapped by Ajay, who, along with his friends, attend the finals of the national-level Kabaddi tournament.

Meanwhile, Veerabhadra's brother Home Minister Doddanna is waiting at the venue of Veerabhadra's marriage with Padma. After learning about his whereabouts, Doddanna reaches the stadium along with Padma and his mother where Ajay and Veerabhadra are fighting with each other. Padma's father stabs Veerabhadra while his mother dies in a bomb blast. Doddanna decides not to react as it would harm his position and Ajay, whose team won the match, celebrates the victory with Padma and his family.

Cast

 * Puneeth Rajkumar as Ajay
 * Anuradha Mehta as Padma alias Paddu
 * Prakash Raj as Veerabhadra
 * Srinath as Padma's father
 * Doddanna as Home Minister Doddanna, Veerabhadra's brother
 * Nassar as DCP Kumaraswamy, Ajay's father
 * Sumithra as Ajay's mother
 * Sathyajith
 * Vijaya Sarathi
 * Tennis Krishna
 * Raghu Ram
 * Kuri Sunil
 * Mahesh Raj
 * Venkatesh Prasad
 * Swami nathan
 * Jaidev
 * K. V. Manjayya
 * Vishwas Bharadwaj
 * Indhudhar Poojari
 * Telangana Shakuntala as Veerabhadra's mother
 * Shailaja Joshi
 * Amrutha Yadav
 * Sarigama Viji as Doddanna's PA
 * Jr. Narasimharaju

Soundtrack
Soundtrack was composed by Mani Sharma. The song "Yene Aagali" was based on "Chitti Nadumune" from Gudumba Shankar. Only the songs "Saagasam" and "Rama Rama" from Okkadu was retained in this version.

Reception
A critic from Sify wrote that the film had the "tried and tested formula which is also entertaining with good production values" and called the film "A treat for Puneeth fans". A critic from Rediff.com wrote that "Aajay is enjoyable fare for large sections of the Kannada film audience who have not seen Okkudu, but it can be a little disappointing for those who have seen the original and its Tamil remake, Ghilli".