Athadu
Athadu is a 2005 Indian Telugu-language action thriller film written and directed by Trivikram Srinivas. The film features an ensemble cast of Mahesh Babu, Trisha, Sonu Sood, Sayaji Shinde, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Prakash Raj, Nassar, Sunil, Rahul Dev and Brahmanandam. It was produced by D. Kishore and M. Ram Mohan under the Jayabheri Arts banner while actor Murali Mohan was the presenter of the film. Story, Screenplay and Dialogues were penned by Srinivas while Sirivennela Sitaramasastri and Viswa penned the lyrics for the songs. The soundtrack was scored by Mani Sharma. K. V. Guhan handled the cinematography of the film while Sreekar Prasad edited it. Thota Tharani was the art director of the film while Peter Hein was the stunt and fight choreographer.
The film went on to become one of the highest grossing Telugu films in and marked Mahesh Babu's career resurgence after a few unsuccessful films. It won 3 Nandi Awards and a Filmfare Awards South in Best Director category. It was later remade in Hindi as and in Bengali as Wanted starring Jeet and Srabanti. Over the years, the film has attained a cult status.
Plot
Professional hitman Nanda "Nandu" Gopal is contracted for a failed assassination attempt on opposition leader Shiva Reddy as part of the latter's plan to become Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister through sympathy. However, before Nandu pulls the trigger, Shiva Reddy is fatally shot. With escape strategist / partner-in-crime Malli dying in a road accident and police surrounding the high-rise building he was in within minutes, Nandu is forced to the top of the roof and jumps off the building onto a train. In one of the compartments, he meets Pardhasaradhi "Pardhu", who was returning to his village, Basarlapudi, after running away 12 years ago. Later that same night, the police arrives at Gudivada, where the train is running 20 minutes late. The SI of the search party takes a shot at Nandu, but Pardhu accidentally comes in the way and is shot instead, resulting in Nandu escaping in the ensuing search.Nandu arrives at Basarlapudi, and thinking that he is Pardhu, the latter's family takes Nandu into their family, with Pardhu's cousin and to-be fiancée Poori, constantly trying to get his attention. As Nandu grows closer to his new family, he solves many of their problems: He solves a land dispute and pays for his cousin's marriage to prevent his family from selling their land to pay for it. He also gains insight into their lives: A scene involving Pardhu's grandfather, Satya Narayana Murthy, catching his grandkids playing with a family gun leads to him telling Nandu that that Pardhu's father died from a ricocheting bullet caused by stone being stuck in the barrel, similar to the marbles that the kids play with. Nandu also aids a family whose son's death was indirectly caused by Pardhu. With Pardhu's closest friend, Ramana, participating in the act, Nandu discloses his identity to him in a subsquent conversation. Nandu also eventually reciprocates Poori's love, telling her that he doesn't know what living with a family feels like, and is slowly learning to embrace all of them.
Meanwhile, CBI Officer Anjaneya Prasad is handed the case of Shiva Reddy's murder. Investigating the crime scene and tracking Nandu's actions leads him to Basarlapudi to meet "Pardhu". Hoping to match his fingerprints to the gun present at the crime scene, Prasad interrogates Nandu and tries to get his fingerprints, but is outsmarted. Subsequent investigation leads him to the accident that prevented Nandu from escaping; however, probing into that angle reveals that both vehicles involved in the accident were hired by Malli, resulting in another dead end. But talking with ex-gangster Sadhu reveals that Malli and Nandu both worked with him, with Malli planning the escape and Nandu doing the job. Further interrogation reveals that professional killers keep their stash in banks, and Prasad locates Nandu's bank account by searching for accounts that witness a spike in the days leading to Shiva Reddy's assasination. He learns of a transfer that took place recently, and heads to the destination bank to discover Nandu's masquerade as Pardhu - the transfer was a 10 lakh cheque encashed by Murthy for the marriage. Calling Nandu by his real name tricks him and results in Prasad and his team arriving at Pardhu's house to apprehend him. Though Nandu escapes, Prasad reveals everything to Murthy, leaving the entire family shocked and angry.
Later, Nandu returns amidst outrage from the other family members for his betrayal, and tells Murthy that he lied because he couldn't bring himself to tell him about Pardhu's death. He also explains that though he lied, he never cheated the family and surrendered to their emotions, whether insults or love. Murthy takes him into the study, where he emphasizes that by surrendering to their emotions and acting as a true member of the family, Nandu is his grandson, his "Pardhu", in his eyes. Murthy hands the family gun to Nandu, urging him to fight whoever was responsible for framing him as the murderer of Shiva Reddy. By threatening Shiva Reddy's colleague, Baji Reddy, Nandu learns that Baji Reddy hired Malli to kill Shiva Reddy in a move to become Chief Minister. Letting Baji Reddy that he recorded the conversation, he heads to Malli's location; Prasad and team see him at an intersection and one of Prasad's colleagues, Ravi, tries to shoot him, but Nandu manages to escape, leaving Prasad forcing Ravi to tell him why he shot Nandu. When Nandu meets Malli, Malli reveals that he took Baji Reddy's deal to kill two birds with one stone: Get more money from the job, as well as put the blame on Nandu. A shooting ensues between the two, with another obstacle appearing in the form of police. Eventually the two face to face, and though Nandu's gun is out of ammo, Malli kills himself by using the family gun - the bullet ricochets because of one of the kids' pebbles in the barrel.
When Prasad arrives at the scene, he receives the recording from Nandu, and subsequently threatens to tell Shiva Reddy's son, Pratap Reddy about Baji Reddy's crime, and Baji Reddy kills himself. Nandu immerses Pardhu's ashes and meets up with Prasad, who effectively clearing Nandu's name by placing the blame on Baji Reddy, leaving Nandu to return to Basarlapudi.
Cast
- Mahesh Babu as Nanda Gopal / Parthu
- Trisha as Poori, Pardhu's cousin
- Sonu Sood as Malli, Nandu's partner
- Sayaji Shinde as Shiva Reddy, opposition party leader
- Kota Srinivasa Rao as Baaji Reddy, Shiva Reddy's close aide
- Prakash Raj as CBI Officer Anjaneya Prasad
- Nassar as Satya Narayana Murthy, Pardhu's grandfather
- Brahmanandam as Krishna Murthy, Poori's uncle
- Rahul Dev as Sadhu, a local don
- Sunil as Ramana, Pardhu's friend
- Rajiv Kanakala as Pardhasaradhi "Pardhu"
- Ajay as Pratap Reddy, Shiva Reddy's son
- Sudha as Poori's mother
- Giri Babu as Poori's father
- Dharmavarapu Subramanyam as Poori's uncle
- Shruthi as Dharmavarapu Subramanyam's wife
- Hema as Krishna Murthy's wife/Poori's aunt
- Charan Raj as Police Officer
- Tanikella Bharani as Naidu
- Brahmaji as Nagasamudram Bujji
- Posani Krishna Murali as Farooq, Shiva Reddy's aide
- Ravi Prakash as Ravi, Anjaneya Prasad's assistant
- Harsha Vardhan as Harsha, car agency owner
- Venkata Giridhar Vajja as Giri, Pardhu's friend
- Harika as Lalitha, Poori's sister
- M. S. Narayana as Tea Shop's customer
- Gundu Sudarshan
- Rallapalli
- Shanoor Sana
- Manoj Nandam
- K. Vishwanath as CBI Officer
Production
Development
In an interview to the media about his film Julai, Trivikram shared his views on this film stating :Casting
Initially Trivikram wanted to do this film with Pawan Kalyan and narrated the script.But he did not show much interest in signing the film and also slept during script narration. Mahesh Babu listened to the script of this film in 2002 but Trvikram and the film's producers had to wait for him till he completes the shooting schedules of S. J. Surya's science fiction film Naani and Gunasekhar's family drama Arjun as they were his existing commitments then. The shooting started a month later after the completion of Arjun. For his characterization and the dialogues uttered by the character he played, Mahesh had to adjust to Trivikram's style of dialogues which took 10 days. Trisha Krishnan was selected for the leading female role. In an interview to 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.Murali Mohan later revealed that he wanted his friend and former Telugu actor Sobhan Babu to play the role of Satya Narayana Murthy which would have marked his comeback film who was busy with a highly profitable real estate business then. For the same, Murali Mohan even issued and sent a blank cheque to Sobhan Babu's residence at Chennai as the remuneration. But Sobhan Babu refused to do that role and rejected the offer politely. Later, Nassar portrayed that role with S. P. Balasubrahmanyam dubbing for him in frail voice and his performance was appreciated by critics.
Filming
For the film's shoot, 160 motion cameras were imported from London to shoot time-freeze effect shots in action sequences which was clarified by Mahesh himself as still cameras only. Because of non compromising, not more than 10 shots were shot per day. 4 to 5 complicated action sequences were shot under supervision of Peter Hein with much finesse and the climax sequence was shot indoor which took enormous time to complete thus making the principal photography end after a span of two years. A big set was constructed at Ramanaidu Studios in Nanakramguda at Hyderabad where most of the film's family scenes were shot. On 7 August 2004, a scene featuring Mahesh and Sunil was shot on the bridge of the lake at ICRISAT campus in Hyderabad.Soundtrack
composed the music for this film marking his first collaboration with Trivikram Srinivas and eighth collaboration with Mahesh Babu. The film's soundtrack was released by Mahesh Babu's father and prominent Telugu actor Krishna on 29 June 2005 at the house set of the film constructed at Nanakramguda through Maruthi Music label. This album consists of six melodies composed by Mani Sharma while Sirivennela Sitaramasastri and Viswa penned the lyrics. Apart from Krishna, the film's lead pair, producers and Maruthi Music representatives attended the event.The audio received moderately positive response from critics. IndiaGlitz wrote "Mani Sharma has tried to please all. If you are going to compare this one with his previous offerings for Mahesh, it does not do any one any good. On its own, the album has its moments." Upon the film's release, Mani Sharma's work was acclaimed by the critics and audience alike. IndiaGlitz wrote "Mani Sharma's music, especially the title song, is very good. His re-recording also fits the bill." idlebrain.com wrote "Music by Mani Sharma is good. The picturization of the first song which comes as background song for titles is wonderful. Neetho Cheppana song has got typical Mexican music. Background music and rerecording of the film is good." Sify.com wrote "The highlights of Athadu are the camerawork of K. V. Guhan and the melodious music and background score of Mani Sharma. The Neeto Chappana number picturised in the tea estates of Darjeeling is the pick of the album." Songs Sung By Eminent Singers Like S. P. Balu, K. S. Chithra, Kavita Krishnamurti, Shreya Ghoshal, Mahalakshmi Iyer, KK etc
Release
Domestic
The film released in 79 centers in Nizam region 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 Visakhapatnam and was distributed by Sri Venkateswara Films. Sri Bharathi Pictures released the film in Krishna district in 18 centers. The film was released simultaneously in 3 screens in Chennai and it was also the first Telugu film to do so.Overseas
The film was released with 6 prints in United States and was distributed by Vishnu Mudda and Soma Kancherla of Crown DVD distribution company in San Jose, Dallas, Detroit, Virginia, New Jersey, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Minneapolis, Phoenix at Arizona and also in centers like Lowell at Massachusetts, MA, Tulsa at Oklahoma, West Virginia, Springfield, Boulder at Colorado and Corpus Christi at South Texas. Because of the demand, another print was imported from India for screening. The film's first screening in USA happened at Cine Plaza 13 at North Bergen on the night of 11 August 2005. At Connecticut, 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, Singapore, Germany and Australia.Home media
The DVD of the movie was released by Aditya Music under its Aditya Video Brand and won the best DVD award for its quality and is considered to be one of the highest sold DVDs in Tollywood history. After 7 years, Star Maa renewed the contract by paying an amount of 3.5 crores which was a record price for a 2005 Telugu film.Dubbed versions and remakes
| Athadu Telugu | Hindi | Wanted Bengali | The Power of One Urdu |
| Mahesh Babu | Bobby Deol | Jeet | Zain |
| Trisha | Shriya Saran | Srabanti Chatterjee | Yumna Zaidi |
| Prakash Raj | Nana Patekar | Sharad Kapoor |
Despite the remakes in different languages the film was dubbed in Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, English, and Polish as Nandhu, Cheetah: The Power of One, Target, The Power of One, and Poszukiwany respectively.