Athadu (2005)

Sadly Over-hyped

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

The fact that I am not an Indian and don't live in India is something you should consider when you read my review. I do lover Indian films and have seen a couple hundred...but I am definitely an outsider. "Athadu" is a film I enjoyed during the first half of the movie. But as the film progressed, my interest waned greatly. And the CGI- intensive ending really, really annoyed me.The film begins with a sweet little kid, Nandu, murdering some gangster type. Obviously this is NOT an ordinary little psychopath. Soon a guy sees the kid's psychotic promise and gets him to become a contract killer. The credits appear and then suddenly the boy has grown to be a studly man. He is now a super-assassin. In fact he's so good that he's approached with a bizarre proposition...he's to deliberately make an unsuccessful attempt on a politician's life. They explain that the injury will guarantee the guy an easy win in the election. However, when Nandu is setting up and readying for his shot with a rifle and scope, someone else shoots and kills one of the folk!! Almost instantly, the police KNOW where Nandu is and try to catch him...he's obviously a patsy for someone's evil plot.After evading the police, he finds himself in a train with a talkative man named Pardhu. It seems that Pardhu has been estranged from his small town family for over a decade and now he's finally returning. However, after conveniently telling Nardu EVERYTHING about himself, Pardhu is killed by police fire as shots ring out. Nardu escapes again and makes himself to the town where Pardhu was headed...with the intention of him assuming Pardu's life and identity. This is a nice setup and I liked this portion of the movie. But when the super-clichéd lady love interest is introduced, the quality and style of the movie changes. It had been an exciting and gritty crime film...but now a sappy and ridiculous romance. She turns out to be the most spoiled, obnoxious and self-absorbed woman I have EVER seen in a movie...and, inexplicably, you know that faux Pardhu will fall for her. This makes no sense...and having him KILL her would have made much, much more sense. What also doesn't make a lot of sense is seeing a serial killer slowly changing into a swell guy who comes to love his new family!While all this is bad, it gets MUCH worse at the end with a giant shootout with many baddies and faux Pardhu taking them all one and, naturally, winning. This is bad enough but so much of this is done in slow-motion, with crazy ridiculous CGI. It is so over-stylized and dumb that I found myself praying for the movie to end!!!The bottom line is that I know you will a few clichés in Indian movies...they are so often formulaic. But the awfulness of the woman took it from formula to the ridiculous...and the ending was hellishly bad. It's a shame....it really DID start off very well.

Mahesh babu aiming the telescopic gun for a sniper shot, like it is a shotgun looks too funny! I thought telescopic guns usually come with tripods for a reason. Then i told myself i am watching a telugu movie and ignored it.Excellent cinematograpgy. But then that hasn't been a problem with telugu cinema off late and we had many movies with good camera work (even some low budget movies). Then whats missing? mahesh babu tries to be jason statham in andhra. its actually digestible..he did a pretty decent job considering his looks are against this kind of role. so what could have made more difference is handling the flow of the movie and the sleekness of it. The outlook of it should match the place where the story is setup. Of course Trivikram is not Maniratnam and then there is this obvious fact that the goal is to make money (in Andhra) and not titillating international audience's taste buds, so much of my whining and cribbing wudnt make sense in the end. But all in all this is a good entertainer and i definitely recommend.

an almost perfect movie .. with some minor flaws (which doesn't matter much to a sensible tollywood cine-goer .. i swear). Mahesh is perfect for the role .. handsome - as usual.. trisha - the lady lead is good, even though she might not be given proper footage. but some light vein comedy track by the lead pair is a must watch for everyone. people who are familiar with trivikram's knack of writing powerful one liners will find them throughout this movie too. some action sequences are commendable.. photography for the title song is simply great .. and boy... what can I say about the theme song??? no words... i listen to this song almost daily ...even to this day (almost 6 months after the songs are released) .. great lyrics by Viswa ... good beats .. also a visual treat ... now waiting for the DVD . i'm gonna grab one as soon as they are out .. ;)

With his innocent looks, everyone thought that he could not play professional killer to good extent. But, Mahesh proved his critics wrong once again in this action drama. Though movie started as a pure action oriented, it slowly goes towards family drama. With few hiccups which are quite natural in mainstream cinema, Athadu is a must watch for Mahesh' performance, good music and lavish production values. Kudos to Mahesh. From the other cast, Sonu Sood did not have much scope. Nasser's getup did not suit him much. Veteran actor would have justified the role well. Trisha has nothing different to offer. Director Trivikram shifted to a different genre of movies. He made sure that his talent is exhibited in every shot.