MartinHafer 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.

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.

moviesenthil For a movie to have been made with so much energy, expense and extravaganza, I am left wondering why a little more time and energy couldn't have been spent on the script. For a movie that starts so well and promises so much, Athadu willingly becomes scattered and compromised, for no reason at all.Many Indian films suffer from this, and this is not to dis the whole Indian film culture, but there are many holes in the narrative, voluntarily shot on the canvas by the writer/director. For instance, the emotional tangent that Nandu goes on after being introduced as a cold blooded professional is utterly unconvincing. His acting is straight out of an English language American B movie and he seems painfully plugged into a Telugu movie. What is so hard about spotting something like this? If a movie maintains its "tone" while playing out, no matter how outrageous it may be, it tends to settle in the audience's mind. Once we know what kind of a ride we are on, it is not hard to sit through consistent movies, no matter the genre. This movie has a hard time deciding what it wants to be.The lifts from "Matrix" and "Face/Off" were neither necessary not subtle. So much money spent on what could have been a good movie, but even worse is the extra 90 minutes we are subjected to on absolutely needless distractions.

royalconqueror 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 .. ;)