Athadu

<p>Nandu is a skilled assassin-for-hire. Along with his partner Malli, he is hired by politician Siva Reddy to stage an assassination attempt on him, intending to gain sympathy votes. However, on the day of the staged attack, Siva Reddy is actually shot dead, and Nandu is framed for the murder. During his escape, Malli dies in a car accident. Nandu manages to evade the police by jumping onto a moving train. On the train, Nandu meets Parthasaradhi “Pardhu”, who is returning to his hometown, Basarlapudi, after running away as a child two decades earlier. While the train halts at a station, the police searching for Nandu arrive. A sub-inspector, mistaking Pardhu for Nandu, shoots and kills him. Nandu, intending to inform Pardhu’s family of his death, arrives in Basarlapudi. However, Pardhu’s unsuspecting family mistakes Nandu for their long-lost relative and welcomes him with open arms. Over time, he bonds with them and falls in love with Poori, Pardhu’s cousin. Nandu helps the family resolve several issues, including protecting their farmland, aiding a struggling family affected by Pardhu’s past actions, and withdrawing money from Pardhu’s bank account to fund a relative’s wedding. He confides his real identity to Pardhu’s childhood friend Ramana. Meanwhile, CBI officer Anjaneya Prasad is assigned to investigate Siva Reddy’s assassination. Noting inconsistencies in the evidence, he tracks leads to Basarlapudi but fails to uncover Nandu’s identity. Eventually, he discovers a withdrawal from Pardhu’s account, calls the household, and tricks Nandu into revealing himself. Realizing the trap, Nandu escapes. Prasad informs Pardhu’s family of his real fate and departs. The revelation leaves them devastated, but Ramana defends Nandu, highlighting his contributions to the family. Nandu returns and admits he initially intended to inform them of Pardhu’s death but refrained upon seeing their happiness at his arrival. Pardhu’s grandfather, Satyanarayana Murthy, privately acknowledges Nandu as his grandson, noting that his actions have proven his place in the family. He hands Nandu a shotgun, once owned by Pardhu’s father, which had misfired due to an obstructed barrel, and encourages him to uncover the truth and clear his name. Nandu contacts Baaji Reddy, Siva Reddy’s associate, and blackmails him with a fake recording into confessing. Baaji Reddy reveals that Malli is alive and was bribed to assassinate Siva Reddy and frame Nandu so that Baaji Reddy could secure the chief minister position. Nandu secretly records this confession. Nandu tracks Malli to a church, where they are ambushed by Baaji Reddy’s corrupt officers. Nandu eliminates the attackers and confronts Malli, who takes Nandu’s shotgun and aims at him. However, when he fires, the obstructed barrel causes the gun to backfire, killing him. Prasad arrives, and Nandu hands over the recording. Prasad confronts Baaji Reddy, who arrogantly dismisses the evidence as inadmissible in court. However, Prasad points out that Siva Reddy’s vengeful son would not hesitate to kill him once the truth emerged. With no escape, Baaji Reddy commits suicide. Later, Prasad finds Nandu performing Pardhu’s last rites. Addressing him as Pardhu, he reveals that he has officially cleared his name and allows him to go free. Nandu, having fully embraced his new identity, returns to Basarlapudi to live happily with his newfound family. In an interview with the media about his film (2012), Trivikram shared his views on this film, stating : I narrated the story of to Mahesh Babu before the start of shoot. Before making of , I fixed myself that I should not compromise at any cost. I wanted to make the film the way I envisioned it. I wanted to satisfy the audience in me after shooting every scene. I doubled checked each and every scene as an audience. I was able to achieve only 80% of what I had imagined when I wrote the script. If you look at the first 15 minutes of the movie, you will realize the level of intensity and technical finesse. Initially, wanted to do this film with and narrated the script. But he did not show much interest in signing the film and even slept during the narration. listened to the script of this film in 2002 but Trvikram and the film’s producers had to wait for him till he completed the shooting schedules of ‘s science fiction film and ‘s family drama as they were his existing commitments then. The shooting started a month later after the completion of . For his characterization and the dialogues uttered by the character he played, Mahesh had to adjust to Trivikram’s style of dialogues, which took ten days. was selected for the leading female role. In an interview with the media on 29 June 2005 at the event of audio release stated that she would be seen in a role with shades of comedy though she added that her role was a limited one. later revealed that he wanted his friend and former Telugu actor to play the role of Satya Narayana Murthy, which would have marked his comeback film, who was then busy with a highly profitable career. For the same, Murali Mohan even issued and sent a to Sobhan Babu’s residence at as the remuneration. But Sobhan Babu refused to do that role and rejected the offer politely. Later, Nassar portrayed that role with dubbing for him in frail voice and his performance was appreciated by critics. For the film’s shoot, 160 were imported from London, to shoot in action sequences. Not more than ten shots were shot per day and four to five complicated action sequences were shot under the supervision of and the climax sequence was shot indoors, which took enormous time to complete thus making the end after a span of two years. A big set was constructed at in at where most of the film’s family scenes were shot. On 7 August 2004, a scene featuring Mahesh and was shot on the bridge of the lake at campus in Hyderabad. composed the music for this film marking his first collaboration with and eighth collaboration with . This album consists of six melodies while and Viswa penned the lyrics. The film’s soundtrack was released by Mahesh Babu’s father and Telugu actor on 29 June 2005 at the house set of the film constructed at through Maruthi Music label. The film’s soundtrack and score by Mani Sharma received critical acclaim. praised the album, noting that it had its moments and should not be compared to his previous works for Mahesh Babu. Upon the film’s release, Sharma’s background score and the title song were well received, with describing them as “very good” and fitting the film’s tone. However, parts of the title song were noted to be influenced by ‘s ” “. highlighted the picturisation of the opening song, the Mexican-inspired “Neetho Cheppana”, and the effective background score. praised Mani Sharma’s music, particularly the “Neeto Chappana” song, filmed in the tea estates of . The film released in 79 centers in in Andhra Pradesh and was distributed by Maruthi Movies in which 3 centers screened the film for only 2 days. The film released in 24 centers across and was distributed by Sri Venkateswara Films. Sri Bharathi Pictures released the film in in 18 centers. The film was released simultaneously on three screens in , the first Telugu film to do so. The film was released with 6 prints in United States and was distributed by Vishnu Mudda and Soma Kancherla of Crown DVD distribution company. Because of the demand, another print was imported from India for screening. The film’s first screening in the US happened at Cine Plaza 13 at on the night of 11 August 2005. At , a special screening was conducted on 19 August 2005. Initially one show was planned but because of the demand another show was screened. There at the theater, a turn out of 442 people was observed which included standing audience for 434 seats and about 60 could not be accommodated. Apart from USA, the film released in selected screens in United Kingdom, , Germany and Australia. The DVD of the movie was released by under its Aditya Video Brand and won the best DVD award for its quality and is considered to be one of the best selling DVDs in . After 7 years, renewed the contract by paying an amount of 3.5 crores which was a record price for a 2005 Telugu film. Athadu was remastered in IMAX 4K Ultra HD with mixing which is the first re release movie in Indian Cinema and re-released in theaters on 9 August 2025 coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the film and the 50th birthday celebrations of Babu. The film was dubbed in as . The film received praise for its plot, slick screenplay, creative action sequences, the amalgamation of humor, emotional weightage, suspense music, dialogues, cinematography and the central performance of Mahesh Babu. stated, “The highlight of the film is Mahesh Babu who looks cool, confident and competent as a hit man with his expressive body language and mannerisms. Athadu just about makes it as a slickly packaged entertainer but only for want of a better alternative.” gave a review stating, “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. 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.” gave a review stating, “True the film gives an image of a base for the drama. Even the taking, screenplay structure and execution of scenes, less talk and more action – all add to this image. But there are elements in this film that only a Telugu man can do it originally. That is the love track. And the way Trivikram put to view the scenic structure between Mahesh Babu and Trisha is impressive and refreshing.” The film netted 10 from three screens in Chennai in its opening weekend debuting at second position pushing ‘s down to the third place. It collected approximately (US$2.6 million) in its total run. The film had a 50 days run in 205 centers and a 100-day run in 38 centres. The film had a 175-day run in Sudarshan 35 mm, , grossing 1.40 crore from the theatre.</p>