Celebrating 21 rocking years of Puri

It was on this day 21 years ago that a phenomenon in TFI was born. Puri Jagannadh made his debut as a director with Pawan Kalyan’s Badri and he’s been unstoppable since then. He’s created such a niche for himself in TFI where regardless of his film’s result, his dialogues and writing remain the central point of fans’ & critics’ discussions. It’s because of his game-changing movies that fans today are celebrating 21 rocking years of Puri

Whether it’s the carefree nature of Badri or the intense gaze of Pandu, Puri gave us some characters that stayed in our subconscious for quite some time. Who could forget the fickle and willy Surya Bhai and Inspector Daya who redefined TFI heroism with shades of grey. Puri is someone who always loves to push the barriers through his characterization. Prabhas’ Bujjigadu is a solid example of the same. Prabhas’ comic potential wasn’t tapped by many before, it was Puri, who gave us a completely new Prabhas aced both comedy as well as action in the movie.

One cannot leave out Ravi Teja when talking of Puri Jagannadh. It is the duo’s offscreen friendship that translated beautifully onto screen giving us some memorable performances. Chanti, Chandu and Ravi from Idiot, Amma Nanna O Tamil Ammayi and Neninthe are some of the most iconic charecterizations in TFI to date.

Puri’s one-liners, punch dialogues and rugged storytelling have all contributed immensely in making him the brand he is. Despite going through a spate of flops before Ismart Shankar, his brand remained intact. Over the past two decades, he has remained the same unabashed, unapologetic, and firm believer in his school of filmmaking. This has made him one of the biggest influence for a number of budding moviemakers in TFI.

Here’s wishing many more iconic movies to the maverick director as we celebrate 21 rocking years of Puri in TFI.