Anjaan () is a 2014 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by N. Lingusamy and produced by Thirupathi Brothers and distributed by UTV Motion Pictures. The film stars Suriya, alongside Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Vidyut Jammwal, Manoj Bajpayee, Dalip Tahil, Murali Sharma, Joe Malloori, Soori, Chetan Hansraj, Sanjana Singh and Asif Basra in supporting roles. The film follows a man who arrives in Mumbai looking for his elder gangster brother and learns of the events behind his disappearance.
The project was reported in July 2012 marking the maiden collaboration with Suriya and Lingusamy and was set to begin production after the former's commitments on other films. Principal photography began on 20 November 2013 and was completed on 23 June 2014, where the film was predominantly shot in Mumbai, with the exception of one song sequence which was filmed in Goa. The music was composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, while cinematography and editing were handled by Santosh Sivan and Anthony.
Anjaan premiered at Kuala Lumpur on 14 August 2014, and theatrically released on 15 August 2014, coinciding with India's Independence Day. The film received mixed reviews from critics with praise for Suriya's performance, action sequences, music and cinematography. Criticism was directed towards the plot and duration. A re-edited version of the film released on 28 November 2025. The film was later remade in Bangladeshi as Captain Khan (2018).
Plot Krishna, a disabled man, arrives in Mumbai from Kanyakumari to find his elder brother Raju. A taxi driver named Raja drives him to a bar, where he tries to inquire about Raju from the henchmen of Raju's former associate Amar, but is rebuffed. Raju's friend Rajiv tells him that Raju was a top gangster. Krishna meets Raju's old enemy JK, who reveals Raju spared his life when he could've killed him. JK tells Krishna about Karim Bhai, a close friend of Raju. Upon meeting Karim, Krishna learns about Raju's past.
In the past, Raju and his brotherly friend Chandru were powerful gangsters to whom Karim himself is a personal friend, while Johnny, Rajiv, Jackie, Manoj, and Amar are their henchmen. The new police commissioner R. Ashok Kumar tries to get rid of them, but Raju kidnaps Ashok's daughter Jeeva on the night of her marriage, in exchange for freeing his men. Ashok is forced to agree, but Jeeva explains that she did not want to get married, and her kidnapping is also her consent. Raju and Jeeva soon fall in love with each other. Raju and Chandru eventually meet Imran Bhai, a powerful crime boss from Dubai, who initially praises them for their work but eventually insults and warns them.
Chandru takes the insult seriously and stays awake all night, but becomes delighted upon finding that Raju kidnapped him at the party itself. The duo meets Imran, who is held captive by Rajiv, and has their verbal revenge. A delighted Chandru gifts a new car to Raju, who later finds Jeeva inside. Chandru tells Raju to enjoy the vacation with Jeeva. During their vacation, Raju and Jeeva are attacked, but they manage to escape. Returning to his hood, Raju is shattered and enraged to find Chandru's mutilated corpse, and he orders Amar to accompany him in killing Imran. However, Amar betrays Raju, shooting him and throwing him into the water.
In the present, Krishna is told by Karim to stay hidden when Amar arrives at his taxi station, but is spotted and reveals that he killed Raju. Amar orders his henchmen to kill Krishna, but Krishna, who is revealed to be Raju, fights off everyone and shoots Amar dead. Raju tells Karim that he intends to stay as Krishna until his mission to hunt down the traitors is accomplished, and stays at Karim's house. Karim says that Chandru was supposed to meet JK on the day he died, and Jackie did not tag along. Raju finds Jackie at a horse-racing stadium and chases him, prompting Jackie to reveal that he tried to contact Raju (who was on vacation) and Chandru, but Johnny answered Chandru's call. Suspecting a mishap, Jackie escaped. Raju catches Johnny using the latter's girlfriend Sindhu and finds out what really happened to Chandru on that day.
On the day of the meeting between Chandru and JK, Imran and his henchmen arrive instead of JK. Chandru fights them off but is held by Johnny, Amar, and Manoj (who were bribed by Imran), and is stabbed to death by Imran. Raju calls Chandru to ask about his safety but is answered by Amar, who lied about Chandru being in a meeting.
Learning the truth, Raju kills Johnny and proceeds to kill Manoj, along with his henchmen, in an ensuing fight. Raju tries to kill Imran at his birthday party, but ends up shooting only his virtual projection telecast from Dubai. Raju and Karim learn that Imran's henchmen arrived at Karim's house and kidnapped his daughter Saira, but Karim reveals that Saira was actually Jeeva. Jeeva wanted to stay away and keep in touch with Raju by wearing a burqa. Raju goes to the spot, fights off all the henchmen, and rescues Jeeva, only to be captured and brought to Imran by his henchmen. Imran's henchmen betray him by helping Raju kill Imran, and Raju fatally stabs Imran to death, avenging Chandru's death. Before leaving, Raju shoots the henchmen and says that even enemies must not have traitors. Before leaving Mumbai, Raju and Jeeva meet Raja, who is shocked to learn that Krishna was Raju all along.
Cast
Production
Development In July 2012, it was reported first that Suriya had signed on for a film directed and produced by N. Lingusamy under his Thirrupathi Brothers banner and that he would work on it after Maattrraan (2012) and Singam 2 (2013). After the completion of both films, the actor was reported to work simultaneously with Lingusamy and director Gautham Vasudev Menon for a film titled Dhruva Natchathiram. Suriya waited for six months after Singam 2, but failed to receive a complete script from Gautham Menon and no progress took place in this period of time. Owing to this reason, he opted out of Menon's film in October 2013 and announced that he would soon start work on Lingusamy's film. The director confirmed the news and also stated the film would officially start filming from mid-November 2013.
Lingusamy recalled that when he decided to collaborate with Suriya, he had narrated multiple scripts, which the latter rejected it. After he remembered the one-line narration he had written for Karthi, he then discussed with his team and prepared a script based on it which Suriya was impressed by the narration. He added that the script was written specifically for Suriya, where unlike his other action films which were character-driven, Lingusamy made it with a mass appeal where "his very presence on screen should have fans clapping and whistling", in comparison with Vijay's Pokkiri and Ajith Kumar's Billa (both 2007). Lingusamy stated that the gangster element was mostly a backdrop, while "the story is more about friendship, romance and twists and turns", while further adding that since the protagonist is from the underworld, the film was set in Mumbai, and not about a realistic depiction of gangster's lives.
S. D. Vijay Milton was initially roped in as the film's cinematographer in June 2013, but in that October he was replaced by Santosh Sivan, who collaborates with Lingusamy for the first time. Lingusamy further renewed his norm technicians, which includes music director Yuvan Shankar Raja, editor Anthony, production designer Rajeevan, action director Stunt Silva and dialogue writer Brinda Sarathy. In September 2013, reports surfaced that the film would be titled Rowdy, which Lingusamy dismissed it. The film began production without a title, before the official title Anjaan was announced in January 2014. The same month, a press statement from Thirrupathi Brothers revealed that UTV Motion Pictures would co-produce and distribute the film, in their second consecutive collaboration with the banner after Vettai (2012).
Casting Suriya was said to possess dual roles with two different appearances for filming. The first of his appearance, being a "raw and jagged look" according to Lingusamy, where he would be seen growing beard for his role, whereas his other look not being revealed and kept as a surprise. In November 2012, it was reported that Samantha Ruth Prabhu has been cast as the female lead. Vidyut Jammwal was confirmed to play an important role in the film. Speaking to Srinivasa Ramanujam of The Hindu, Jammwal added that he met Lingusamy at the after-party of an award function where the latter was interested to cast him for the film. Soon after, he received a call from the production house and eventually auditioned for an important role in the film. Though he was not playing an antagonist role unlike his previous films, Jammwal revealed that: "Suriya and my characters are partners in crime, brothers in arms. It's a role I haven't done before and I'm really excited about it."
Manoj Bajpayee was reported to be playing the film's antagonist. Dalip Tahil was signed on for the role of a small, but powerful don in the film. Vivek was initially approached to play a comedic role in the film but could not take up the offer as a result of date clashes with Vai Raja Vai. Instead, he was replaced by Soori in March 2014. Sana Khan was approached to do a special number in the film but she declined the offer as she prioritized to promote her Bollywood film Jai Ho (2014). Actress Maryam Zakaria was chosen to do an item number in the film. Chitrangada Singh was chosen for another item number after discussions to have Sonakshi Sinha and Kareena Kapoor, in the song were unsuccessful.
Filming
In mid-October 2013, a test shoot occurred with Suriya and Malavika Rampradeep, a Bharatanatyam dancer, at the Prasad Studios in Chennai, where Sivan used the Red Dragon 6K Digital camera along with a high zoom lens. Sivan reported that it was the first film in the word to be shot with this camera, a technology which had not been used in Hollywood films. On 15 November, Suriya completed a photo-shoot of the film which was done by still photographer Venket Ram.
Principal photography began on 20 November 2013 in Mumbai with a proposed month-long schedule. In December 2013, filming halted as Samantha developed a mild skin irritation as a result of shooting in extreme heat conditions. This resulted the lead actors and the unit to return to Chennai. Filming resumed a few days later, with an intro song ("Bang Bang Bang") being shot with Suriya, Jammwal and Zakaria. A specially constructed set was erected at Borivali to shoot the song, which costed them . Filming continued in late December, where the team shot some "breezy, lighthearted sequences" featuring Suriya and Samantha. The latter had participated for the shoot for ten days due to her commitments for filming in Rabhasa. The first schedule was wrapped in early January 2014.
Filming for the second schedule commenced in late-January. In early February, the crew filmed a song sequence featuring Suriya and Samantha ("Ek Do Teen") in Panchgani where the song was shot for seven days. After a brief break, the team started filming for the third schedule on 5 March 2014. An item number featuring Bajpayee and Singh ("Sirippu En") was shot in this schedule. On 30 March 2014, the team canned few action sequences at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus train station but was halted in the afternoon due to protesters shouting slogans against Lingusamy and Sivan. They demanded on the removal of Inam from theatres, which Lingusamy had distributed. Lingusamy then sorted out the issues with the protestors on their demands and restarted filming the following day.