Athadu
Athadu
| 25 October 2005 (USA)
Athadu Trailers

A professional killer is hired to fake the assassination of a politician. However, when the politician is killed and he is framed for his murder, he takes on a dead man's identity to escape the law.

Reviews
Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible
Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.
Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.
akshaykatakam Nandu (Mahesh Babu), an orphan, is a top-notch professional killer in town. He maneuvers his operations with the help of his buddy (Sonu Sood). In one such operation, he falls into the eyes of the cops. While fleeing from the crime scene, he unintentionally becomes the cause for the death of a stranger called Pardhoo (Rajiv Kanakala), a run-away youngster who wants to return home after 12 years. Nandu assumes the identity of Pardhoo and enters his household in a remote village to escape from the cops. The rest of the story is all about how Nandu solves all the problems.Mahesh Babu is stylish and brilliant as professional killer. He suited the profile of Nandu to the tee. He lives up to his image of Prince Charming with his mesmerizing looks. He transformed smoothly from the character of Nandu to Pardhoo, yet shown the variation in histrionics that come out due to Nandu's guiltiness to impersonate Pardhoo.Trisha is in her elements in this film with traditional attire and cute mannerisms. The only difference between her characters in Varsham & NVNV and this film is that the voice dubbed by Savitha Reddy is mellowed down a bit, which is good. However, her role in this film is less compared to her past films.Sonu Sood is perfect. Prakash Raj is adequate as the investigating officer. Tanikella Bharani's get-up and dialogue delivery is different when compared to the roles he is offered these days. Brahmaji is effectively used for a comedy fight in this film. Nassar donned the role of an old man. Frail voice dubbing by SP Balu suited him. Brahmanandam and Dharmavarapu Subramanyam succeeded in creating good humor. Sunil is good as loyal friend. Kota and Sayaji Shinde are adequate. K Viswanath did guest appearance as CBI's local chief.Trivikram is known for his class entertainers that are loaded with sensible humor and nice emotional quotient. He tried something different for this film. The way he opened the film with a tree shot is terrific. You feel like you are watching Ram Gopal Varma's film in the first half an hour. His taking is trendy and stylish. When the scene shifts to village, Trivikram tries to lace in his typical humor. The screenplay of the film is not binding enough to blend these two stories (contract killer story and masquerader story). Nevertheless, he could not hold the similar tempo in the second half. The continuity and logic behind certain scenes is missing.Photography of the film is terrific. The camera angles, shot framing, lighting effects and camera movements are appropriate to the respective scenes. A tint is used for the first half an hour of the film which made this film appear like the Hollywood films made with Mexican backdrop. Cinematographer KV Guhan deserves a pat on his back for his fine work.
Vamsi Kaza Everything about this movie is almost flawless. Mahesh Babu portrays both the characters of Nandu, the professional killer and Pardhu with equal aplomb. He underplays in some situations and gets the finer nuances in the final confession scene absolutely right. This according to me is his finest performance till date.Trivikram - Beyond the usual applause he gets for his dialogues, this film is memorable for his direction. Be it the very first scene which establishes the hero's character or the last one which is technically one of the most challenging fights choreographed with 120 cameras being used to shoot it, his direction has panache written all over it. The subtlety in humor and fight scenes is another strong aspect of the film. The countryside and the relationships Pardhu cultivates over there make you empathize with him. Pardhu understands what it is being loved for the very first time in his life and his relationship with his grandfather (Nasser), Ramana (Sunil) and Puri (Trisha) bring a lot of heart into the film and makes it different from any other action flick. In short, novelty in making, humor, Mahesh Babu's acting, a screenplay which blends mainstream Telugu masala with carefully etched characters, witty dialogues, stylish fight choreography and above all Trivikram's finesse both as a writer and director make ATHADU the best Telugu film.There are some scenes which are a textbook for any aspiring filmmaker.>The initial sequence of Mahesh Babu killing in crowded bazaar was so smooth and subtle that surprise me every time. >The scene starting from speech from Kota Srinivasa Rao on political dais and announcing Shayaji Shinde arrival to him getting hit by bullet in head is so perfectly orchestrated that you would want to watch it 10 times just for that one. >The fight at fields with innocent villagers, fight at temple with Brahmaji, Climax fight are so apt to surroundings and mood of the film. It's refreshing to see such kind of stunts. >Some sentiment moments adds the required emotional quotient. >How can one forget dialogues by Brahmanandam. >Hero Intro song is probably the best. If Mahesh Babu makes a James- bondish movie, this can be used. I can write a book on this film.
krishna kumar The film starts with a note of suspense, with the local party leader getting killed by the hero. The film is about how he finds the actual culprit. In the process, he gets into a lovable family and loves the hospitality shown by the members of the family. The film has an excellent cast with everyone preforming their role with sensibility. The act of Mahesh Babu and Prakash Raj is note-worthy. although, the film starts off with a sequence of criminal acts, it enters into a family drama afterwards. Thrivikram has done an excellent job with his dialogues. He also earned good name with his directional skills. As a whole, its a worth watch film for everyone. Already it has bagged good part of audience and hope it continues
sirivennela-sastry This is one of the best Telugu movies I have watched in a long time. The credit goes to Trivikram, the writer and the director of the movie. Also, another strong aspect of this movie is its Lyrics. Sirivennela has penned excellent songs for this movie. This is a decent movie and probably not aimed at the mass audience. The lead lady role is played by Trisha. Trisha scored 100% in this movie. Also, Tanikella Bharani added his experience to the Naidu role. The is one movie I have seen multiple times, every time the movie looks anew - especially the songs. I did not expect a Telugu movie on par with international standards as far as the cinematography and choreography. Music director has done an excellent job. A must see movie.