Coming after nearly a year since Mahesh Babu's last release Arjun, Athadu has extra pressure and hopes riding on it. Making a film in normal times in itself is difficult; making it in times of anxiety and expectation is doubly so. It shows in Athadu as the director Trivikram Srinivas, who is making his debut from being just a writer, seems to have tried too much. He has tried to please both action buffs as well as sentiment-junkies. This appeal-to-all idea is in principle okay, but doesn't work mostly.
Yet, Athadu has it moments and is on the whole a passable entertainer with Mahesh Babu holding the patchwork script with his firm-hold grasp. In fact, he is in good nick right through and that more than compensates for the lack of taut tension in the second half village scenes.
Nandu and Malli (Mahesh Babu and SonuSood) are contract hatchet men. Killing is their living, so to say. One is cool on the trigger, the other is good in plotting and escaping. They are hired by Siva Reddy (Sayaji Shinde), a wily and venal politician ,who wants to earn sympathy from the public through an enacted assassination bid on his life. He has a slimy sidekick in Batchi Reddy(Kota Sreenivasa Rao).
The problem is the bid turns out real. Siva Reddy id dead and gone and Malli and Nandu go on the run as the police is after them. In the interregnum, Nandu runs into Pardhu (RajivKanakalla), who is going back to his village, after being a prodigal.But Pardhu is also killed. So Nandu goes into the village as Pardhu and bring joy to his family. The family, among others, comprises his grandfather and his fiancee of sorts (Nasser and Trisha). In the event, it all boils down to how Nandu unties the various complex knots thats pool around him in murderous multitudes. And he also finds who double crossed him in the murder deal.
The story sure has splendid potential, but the director does not use them to the hilt simply because he attempts to do too many things almost simultaneously.
Mahesh Babu as the cool assassin Nandu is icily interesting. He brings to the role a certain conviction. An assassin has to be a poker-faced nobody, with nary an emotion on an agate face. Mahesh is surely. And he quickly comes up with his other side --- a caring family man ---- when confronted with a loving grandfather and a playful ladylove.
Trisha, as a demure damsel, is compelling and attractive. Her essential impishness fits the role to a T.
Sonu Sood as a greedy friend is adequate. Kota, Sayaji Shinde all do their baddie job well. Prakash Raj as the CBI man on the trail of the killers does his usual job. Nasser is also good in his simple role. Brahmanandam brings the house down with his agreeable antics.
Mani Sharma's music, especially the title song, is very good.His re-recording also fits the bill. The action sequences of Peter Heynes are spell-binding; but they are not out of the world as we had been led to believe in the run up to the film. Guhan's camerawork belongs to the top drawer. It is gritty as well as stylish.
Trivikram Srinivas, who is known for his candy floss romances, shows he can handle action entertainers. Of course, the scriptwriter in him has slipped badly in the second half. The sensational opening and the overall tem poof the first half is too good to be sustained all through.
Yet, all things considered, Athadu is a good entertainer. The problem is you can't praise it as the best yet cannot rubbish it as being useless. It is somewhere in between (with more pluses than minuses).
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