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Phoonk

2008 film by Ram Gopal Varma

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 2, 2026
Entity authorityQ7187347
Source-derived summary

Phoonk (transl. Blow) is a 2008 Indian supernatural horror film directed by Ram Gopal Varma and produced by Praveen Nischol. The film stars Sudeep, Amruta Khanvilkar, and Ahsaas Channa in the lead roles, while Kenny Desai, Ashwini Kalsekar, and Zakir Hussain play supporting roles. The film is based on superstition and black magic. The film was released on 22 August 2008 and was declared a blockbuster at the box office by several media outlets. The film marks the debut of lead actor Suddep as his 25th film in Hindi.

Varma derived the idea for the film from a Hindi news channel which telecasts stories on black magic. The storyline of Phoonk is thematically similar to the Telugu thriller novel Tulasi Dalam by Yandamuri Veerendranath. A prize of ₹5 lakh (US$5,200) was announced for those who will watch the film alone in a theatre.

The film was remade in Telugu as Raksha and was dubbed in Tamil as Bommayi.

Editorial summary

“Phoonk” enters the record as 2008 film by Ram Gopal Varma. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Phoonk, film and Gopal can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewBest approached as a cultural-object dossier: authorship and date matter, but circulation and reception often explain the wider significance. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2008—that can be checked directly. The authority record carries competing date values—2008-01-01, 2008-08-22—which should remain separate until their references and qualifiers are resolved. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Phoonk, film and Gopal.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Phoonk” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Phoonk, film and Gopal provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7187347. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2008.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Phoonk”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Phoonk primary sources, Phoonk archive and Phoonk research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Phoonk”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Phoonk” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.