| Jana | |
| Director: | Shaji Kailas |
| Producer: | M. Kaja Mohideen K. Ayesha |
| Starring: | Ajith Kumar Sneha |
| Cinematography: | Rajeev Ravi |
| Editing: | L. Bhoominathan |
| Music: | Songs: Dhina Background score C. Rajamani |
| Studio: | Roja Combines |
| Runtime: | 168 minutes |
| Country: | India |
| Language: | Tamil |
Jana (alternatively spelt Janaa) is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by Shaji Kailas and produced by Roja Combines. The film stars Ajith Kumar and Sneha, alongside Siddique, Manoj K. Jayan, Raghuvaran, Srividya, Radha Ravi, Sathyapriya and Bindu Panicker. The soundtrack and musical score were composed by Dhina and C. Rajamani, while cinematography and editing were handled by Rajeev Ravi and L. Bhoominathan respectively.
Janarthanan alias Jana lives at a village in Tamil Nadu. In an unforeseen circumstance, Jana meets his former rival Viswanathan Bhandari, who wants to exact revenge against Jana for his brother's death, and it is revealed that Jana was a former vigilante at Mumbai with an expertise in computer science. Jana learns that Bhandari and his brother tried to smuggle arms and ammunitions, where Jana kills Bhandari's brother in the process. An enraged Bhandari exacts revenge on Jana by killing his family with his uncle and father as the only survivor. A fight ensues in which Jana finally finishes Bhandari and Veerapandi.
The film was announced in early 2002 titled as Thiruda. Trisha Krishnan was initially signed on to play the lead female role. but pulled out due to unavailability of dates and she was later replaced by Sneha.[1] The title was subsequently changed to Jana and Ajith began filming in December 2002.[2] [3] [4] The shooting took place at Palghat, where some sets were erected. It was a lavish set costing 9 lakh, consisting of two bungalows, one belonging to Raghuvaran and the other to Radha Ravi, in the film. Most of the story has taken place in these bungalows. Among those present were Ajith and Sneha. The sets have been designed by art director Maniraj. Apart from Palghat, a 20-day schedule took place at Ottappalam and Shornoor in Kerala.[5]
The soundtrack features 6 songs composed by Dhina.[6] Before finalizing Dhina, the makers approach Harris Jayaraj for composing the soundtrack, but he opts out due to creative differences.
Jana was released on 1 May 2004, coinciding with Ajith Kumar's birthday.
Visual Dasan of Kalki called it a comforting victory film for Ajith.[7] Indiaglitz called it "a complete rehash of Rajini starrer Baashha and that it "is completely out of sorts movie".[8] Behindwoods wrote "Jana is nothing new except a different on screen looks of Ajith".[9] Sify wrote "Neither great nor ghastly Jana packs in a sting but ends with a whimper and is strictly for the no-holds barred Ajith addicts".[10] Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu wrote, "A little of Nayakan and a lot of Baashha peppered with some originality in screenplay, a ravishing heroine and an invincible hero make up this summer cocktail".[11] Chennai Online wrote "One sees the movie and comes out of the theatre with an unclear picture of what it was all about. We carry only the memory of some hotch-potch situations, and a handsome protagonist caught in the midst of it!".[12]