Poojari (transl. Priest) is a 2007 Indian Kannada-language action drama film directed by Sharan and starring Adi Lokesh (in his lead debut) and Neethashree.

The film was released alongside Arasu (2007) on Republic Day and was a box office failure despite having a large opening.^{[citation needed]} After the film's failure, Adi Lokesh decided to concentrate back on villain roles.^[1]

The film began production in January 2006.^{[citation needed]} Adi Lokesh previously starred in Jogi (2005) and made his lead debut with this film.^[1] According to dialogue writer Keshav Adhithya, Poojari is broken down into Poo, which means worship, ja, which means learning jataka and ri, which means repair.^{[citation needed]}

The muhurat of the film was held at Sree Kailasa Vaikunta Mahakshetra Temple in Rajajinagar. Sharan, the producer of this film, also produced Kullara Lok (2002) and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar (2005). Similar to the films Om (1995) and Shastri (2005) where brahmins become villains, in this film the lead character uses a machete despite being a priest.^{[citation needed]} Director Sharan did not let Adi Lokesh dub for himself.^[1] The film was delayed and Adi Lokesh worked on two other films: Bidda (2008) and Gang Leader (2010).^{[citation needed]}

The music was composed by Abhimann Roy,^[2] and the lyrics were written by Sharan Kumar Kabbur, Kantharaj S, Prashanth and Srinivas. The song "Kannale Nanna Chitra Baredanu" was shot in Bangkok.^[1] The song "Muddu Muddada Hudugige" was shot in Singapore.^{[citation needed]} The songs were popular prior to the film's release.^{[citation needed]}

A critic rated the film two out of five stars and wrote that "The film is mass oriented and it attracted the mass audience. [...] Neeta looks glamorous in the song sequences".^[3] The film was a box office failure.^[4] The film's failure mentally affected Adi Lokesh, and he confined himself to his house for nine months before his friends advised him to return to acting.^[1]

• Poojari at IMDb