Jalsa (transl. Fun) is a 2008 Indian Telugu-language action comedy film written and directed by Trivikram Srinivas and produced by Allu Aravind under the Geetha Arts banner. The film stars Pawan Kalyan, Ileana, Parvati Melton and Kamalinee Mukherjee, with Mukesh Rishi, Prakash Raj, Brahmanandam, Ali, and Sunil in supporting roles. The soundtrack of the film was composed by Devi Sri Prasad.

Released on 1 April 2008, Jalsa set multiple box office records on its opening day, registering the highest first-day collection in Telugu cinema history at the time and the highest for any South Indian film in a single state.^[1] It emerged as the highest-grossing Telugu film of the year and was a commercial success. The film received praise for its lead performances, music, humour, and witty dialogues, though the screenplay drew criticism.^[2][3]

The film's marketing included an action video game based on its characters, making it the first movie-based video game in South Indian and Telugu cinema.^[4][5] Due to its enduring popularity, Jalsa was re-released in 2022, becoming the highest-grossing Telugu re-release until it was surpassed by Kushi (2001), another Pawan Kalyan film.^[6]

Sanjay Sahu aka Sanju is a post-graduate and works as an aerobics instructor. He is in love with Indu, who wishes to marry him. She makes him meet her father, who is a police officer and also happens to be his old acquaintance. Her father declines to approve of their love, and she is forced to marry according to her father's choice. Meanwhile, Indu's sister Bhagyamathi aka Bhagi and her friend Jyothsna aka Jo are chased by hoodlums before being rescued by Sanju. Furthermore, Jo and Bhagi are ragged in the college before being again rescued by Sanju. Both begin to like Sanju and even decide to propose their love to him without their knowledge of the other. However, it is Jo who proposes first to Sanju, who rejects her. Careful after seeing her friend's love rejected, Bhagi, with the help of Seenu, begins wooing Sanju.

Bhagi keeps wooing Sanju in different ways under Seenu's supervision. Seenu keeps advising Bhagi with new ideas to impress Sanju. With Seenu's idea, Bhagi vacates the previous tenants in Sanju's house and gets into the house to woo Sanju. She keeps trying in many ways to impress him, which evokes comedy. Bhagi keeps meeting Sanju and tries to know more about him. After many comical situations coming their way, love blossoms between them, but unfortunately at a party where Jo is also one of the attendees, she spills all the beans about Bhagi. Sanju is infuriated and ends their relationship. Later that party, however, when having a conversation with Bhagi, a drunken Sanju begins to showcase that he is not a correct fit to her, yet the unending love of Bhagi towards Sanju makes him fall for her. Both again get into a relationship, marking it with a kiss.

Meanwhile, Damodar Reddy, a powerful land grabber who takes care of all the settlements while still in jail, is out on parole. He is in search of Sanju for spoiling his land deals in the past and thrashing his son, who was one of the goons who chased Bhagi. He makes an attempt on Sanju's life but in vain. However, Sanju's friend Abhi is taken hostage during the attack. Sanju rescues Abhi but is enraged when his friends stop him from assaulting the kidnapper by questioning his authority to take the law into his hands and bringing them troubles. Sanju then reveals his flashback, in which he hailed from a poor rural family. His brother dies of heart disease as a child. His father Janardhan Sahu kills himself as crops fail, and his mother too passes away. While going to the burial ground, he repeatedly slips and swoons at a stone pillar. He plucks it out, which enrages Damodar Reddy's henchmen. When they attack him, Sanju beats them up, disappears into a forest, and joins the Naxalites. During a combing operation, he joins hands with Indu and Bhagi's father (a police officer) and his team to eliminate the team in an encounter. Sanju is then rehabilitated as a college student in Hyderabad.

Bhagi confesses to her father about her intention to marry Sanju, but her father rejects it by revealing to her about Sanju being an ex-lover of her sister Indu, and an ex-Naxal. Shocked, Bhagi agrees to get married as per her father's choice. Her father arranges the engagement of Bhagi with Raghuram. Sanju is disgusted that Bhagi has given her assent to the engagement and decides to break it. Meanwhile, Sanju learns that the man who attempted on his life is none other than Damodar Reddy and that Raghuram is Damodar Reddy's elder son. Sanju confronts Damodar Reddy in jail and challenges him. Damodar Reddy leaves jail and forcibly arranges the marriage of Raghuram with Bhagi. Sanju, meanwhile kidnaps Damodar Reddy's younger son. He then takes Damodar Reddy head-on and defeats him, ensuring that he fears death, and walks out without killing Damodar Reddy and his son, proclaiming that the art of winning a war is to defeat the enemies, not to kill them. Sanju ends up marrying Bhagi.

After a few months, Damodar Reddy, now paralyzed, dies of a heart attack on the same road on which Sanju defeated him.

The film's soundtrack, composed by Devi Sri Prasad, was released on 29 February 2008, with Aditya Music acquiring the audio rights for ₹90 lakh,^[7] the highest for a Telugu film at the time.^[8] The album received widespread critical acclaim^[9][10][11] and was well received by audiences.^[12] It topped music charts for several months after its release. Devi Sri Prasad won the 2008 Santosham Best Music Director Award for his composition.^[13][14]

In addition to strong physical and digital sales, the film’s music generated significant revenue from mobile ringtone downloads, contributing approximately ₹1.45 crore, marking a notable expansion of the Telugu music market.^[3]

As part of its marketing campaign, Jalsa became the first Telugu and South Indian film to have an official video game.^[4][15] The game was launched at a function held at Hotel Novotel in Hyderabad on 22 March 2008. The online version was developed by RZ2 Games (Chris Whaley), while FX Labs (Sashi Reddy – Aplabs) developed the mobile version. The online game was available for free, whereas the mobile game was priced at ₹50 per download. It was made available across 42 Big C outlets in Andhra Pradesh.^[4]

Jalsa was released on 1 April 2008 in theaters worldwide. The film was originally scheduled to be released on 27 March 2008, but because of delays in the digital intermediate (DI) process. Jalsa was later released with 400 prints in 800 theaters worldwide across 1000 screens.^[16][17]

Jalsa was re-released in theaters worldwide on 3 September 2022, coinciding with Kalyan's birthday, with remastered picture and sound.^[18] Jalsa grossed over ₹3.25 crore in its 2022 re-release and became the highest grossing Telugu re-release of all time until surpassed by another Pawan Kalyan film Kushi.^[6][19][20] The collections of the special shows were reported to be donated to charity.^[21]

• Jalsa at IMDb