Power Star Pawan Kalyan made his debut as a director with a martial arts entertainer Johnny. He romanced Renu Desai in the film which recently completed 17 years. The film created a record by releasing with 250 prints across the world. However, the film failed to live up to the hype and bombed at the box office. It turned out to be the biggest disaster in Pawan Kalyan's career.
Pawan once said, "One should agree with the facts. My directorial venture Johnny turned out to be a flop. One should face the truth and shouldn't run away or get scared. These are common in the creative field. During that time brother, Chiranjeevi told me one thing. 'You should have worked even harder in a proper manner'. I worked hard but not in a proper way. I feel now that I did not work hard regarding the intricacies. I didn't do Johnny without intelligence or in an amateurish manner. As far as my knowledge I chose a path available at that time".
Pawan also said, "Had Johnny been a success, I would have quit the films." Thankfully for Pawan Kalyan fans the film stood as a flop or else power star would have quit films.
Johnny revolves around martial arts. Though the film flopped, the tunes scored by Ramana Gogula attracted all.