Nijam () is a 2003 Indian Telugu-language action film written, directed and produced by Teja on Chitram Movies banner. The film stars Mahesh Babu, Rakshita, Gopichand and Raasi, with music was composed by R. P. Patnaik. 

Babu and Talluri Rameshwari won the Nandi Awards in Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress categories respectively. It was remade in Odia as Arjuna and in Bangladesh as Top Leader.

Plot
Sidda Reddy (Jaya Prakash Reddy) is a powerful gangster whose right hand is Devadaya "Devudu" Sharma (Gopichand), who has a lover named Malli (Raasi). Reddy, who also likes Malli, takes her to his bed, which is not liked by Devudu. Eventually, Devudu kills Reddy and becomes the leader of the gang. Venkateswarlu (Ranganath) is a fire officer, who slaps  Devudu when he set a marketplace on fire and as continued throwing kerosene at the marketplace. Devudu holds a grudge against Venkateswarlu, where he sends him to prison on a framed charge of the murder of Malli's brother Baddu (Suman Setty). Venkateswarlu's son G. Seetharam (Mahesh Babu) tries to rescue his father, but everybody starts asking him for a bribe to do the work. At the end of the day, the CI (Brahmaji) and Devudu kill Venkateswarlu. Enraged, Seetaram's mother Shanthi (Talluri Rameswari) and Seetharam executes the people involved in Venkateswarlu's death in a planned and scientific manner and also finishes Devudu, thus exacting their vengeance.

Cast

Mahesh Babu as G. Seetaram
Rakshita as Janaki
Gopichand as Devadaya "Devudu" Sharma
Raasi as Malli
Prakash Raj as ACP Raja Narendra
Jaya Prakash Reddy as Sidda Reddy
Ranganath as G. Venkateswarlu, Sitaram's father
Rameshwari as Shanti, Sitaram's mother
Brahmaji as CI
Vijayachander as DGP
Jeeva as DCP Murali Krishna
Suman Setty as Baddu
Kanta Rao as Narayana Rao
Rallapalli as a butcher
Dharmavarapu Subrahmanyam as a traffic constable
Kondavalasa as Sitaram's neighbor
Duvvasi Mohan as Patil
Tirupathi Prakash
Shakeela
Alapati Lakshmi
Master Ghatamaneni Jaya Krishna as a young Sitaram

Cameo appearance 
Mani Chandana as a dancer (cameo appearance in the song "Rathalu Rathalu"

Soundtrack

Music was composed by R. P. Patnaik. Lyrics were penned by Kula Shekar. Music was released on Aditya Music.

Legacy and Remakes
The film was also dubbed into Tamil as Nijam, and then again in 2012 as Seerum Singam. The film was dubbed as Meri Adalat in Hindi in 2008, in Bengali as Aamar Protishodh and in Bhojpuri as Hamaar Faisla. It was remade as Arjuna in Oriya starring Anubhab Mohanty and Gargi Mohanty & Bangladesh as Top Leader starring Shakib Khan.

Reception
Jeevi of Idlebrain gave 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Overall, it's an average film that has chances to become hit because of the Teja's mass-attracting episodes and Mahesh Babu's brilliant portrayal of the character". Vijayalakshmi of Rediff wrote "Only a couple of things salvage director Teja's Nijam -- the first is an excellent performance by lead star and teen sensation Mahesh. The second is cinematographer Samir Reddy's camera work.

Box office 
In an interview, Teja said "We made Nijam in a budget of 6.5 crore; We sold audio rights for 2 crore and movie initially were sold for a total of 26 crore. In total, we made a profit of 5-6 crore and Nijam was not a flop". In an interview with The Hindu, Teja told "I worked with Mahesh after he had a flop called Bobby, but Nijam released after Okkadu and people drew comparisons. I don’t argue when people say Nijam was a flop. The film was made with a budget of 6.5 crore and sold for 21 crore. I repaid money to whoever lost money and still made a huge profit".

Awards

Won
Nandi Awards
 Best Actor - Mahesh Babu
 Best Supporting Actress - Talluri Rameshwari

CineMAA Awards
 Best Villain - Gopichand

Filmfare Awards South
 Best Actor - Telugu - Mahesh Babu

Nominated
 Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress - Telugu - Taluri Rameswari 

CineMAA Awards
 CineMAA Award for Best Actor - Male - Mahesh Babu 
 CineMAA Award for Best Film - Teja

References

External links
 

2003 films
Films about corruption in India
2000s Telugu-language films
Telugu films remade in other languages
Films directed by Teja (film director)
Indian vigilante films
Indian action films
Indian films about revenge
Films scored by R. P. Patnaik
2003 action films
2000s vigilante films