In some sense, Mahesh Babu can be called a smiling assassin. In that he has a cute smile but is a bomber when it comes to performance. The smile masquerades the tigerish performer in him.

So it is more than apt that he is doing the alleged remake of the Hollywood hit flick Assassins. If one were to go by the rumors in the industry then Athadu, Mahesh's forthcoming release, is said to be based on the Antonio Banderas-Sylvester Stallone film.

Trivikram Srinivas, who is a past master in making stories out of Hollywood hits, has turned director with this film. So the rumours about Assassins gain all the more credibility.

Whether the film is remake of Assassins or not, the fact of the matter is Mahesh Babu does play a hired killer in Athadu. When he is on a mission in a village, he comes across Trisha and falls in love with her.

This is the broad outline of the story.

In a sense, this is a tailor-made story for Mahesh to make a strong comeback. A hardened killer with a heart of gold is an image that fits him to the T.

The film has lot of sturdy action sequences and Mahesh, it is said, has performed some difficult and risky scenes.

But his career is at a stage when he has to take lot of risks.