Johnny, released in theatres in 2003, was a martial-arts drama written, directed by, and starring Pawan Kalyan as the male lead. The story follows Johnny, a troubled young man who grows up with an abusive alcoholic father and runs away from home after losing his mother. Let's stop here. The original plot didn't have the titular character lose his mother.
Pawan Kalyan, fresh off the success of Kushi, conceived the action drama as a mother-son emotional story. It's the male lead's mother who gets cancer-stricken. Power Star later had a change of mind and the one who gets afflicted with cancer in the new version is his wife, Geetha, played by Renu Desai.
Johnny was produced by Geetha Arts. Since it immediately followed a sensational movie like Kushi, the buzz for it in Summer 2003 was unprecedented. The movie's songs and trailer didn't excite the audience much. But Pawan Kalyan's fans rested their hopes on the action scenes. Everything fell flat on face right after the FDFS. The movie made losses to the tune of Rs 7 crore, a big figure in those days. Distributors were duly compensated. Johnny marked an era of flops in Pawan Kalyan's career. He had no clear hit till Gabbar Singh in 2012.
