Rating: 10/10 (A Classic)

Mahesh Babu was going through a series of flops at the time and teamed up with well known writer turned director Trivkram Srinivas for the action film Athadu. This film is now considered a modern day classic is one of the most watched films every time it's on TV. What makes this movie so good? Find out in my review.

Story: When an orphaned gunman for hire Nandu (Mahesh Babu) is framed for murder, he assumes the identity of a childhood runaway named Pardhu (Rajeev Kanakala) and takes refuge in his house while hiding from the police.

Performances: The cast of this film is perfect. Mahesh Babu is simply superb as Nandu. He has less dialogues in this film and emotes more with his eyes and his performance is truly top notch. he is extremely stylish as the pro killer and extremely handsome as Pardhu in the house. This film runs on his star power and he delivers his best performance.

Trisha as Poori is adorable and also gives an excellent performance. Nassar is excellent as the old patriarch of the house.

Prakash Raj is awesome as Anjaneya Prasad and has some solid dialogues. Kota is very good as Baji Reddy.

The man who steals the show is Tanikella Bharani as Naidu. His dialogues in the scenes after the land fight are the best part of this film. The dialogue aadu magadra bujji will stay with you forever. Brahmaji is equally as funny as Bujji.

Sonu Sood as the villain is good and Rahul Dev is fine. Ajay, Sayaji Shinde, Charan Raj, are adequate. Dharmavarupu Subramanyam, GiriBabu, Sunil, Brahmi and MS Narayana keep you laughing for the most part.

Technicalities: Music and background score by Mani Sharma is world class. Another amazing performance from the Melody Brahma. Cinematography by KV Guhan is excellent. This is the most stylish film ever made in the Telugu film industry to date. Editing is good and you don't care how long the film is even at 172 minutes. Fights by Peter Heins are amazing. Even though the first fight only comes about 90 minutes into the film, they are choreographed superbly. Screenplay is highly effective. Production Values by Jayabheri Arts are amazing. This film is so stylish and grand and the visuals clearly reflect it. Dialogues by Trivikram are truly outstanding and one of the highlights of this film.

Analysis: The film starts off in a stunning way. the stylish taking of the murder of the guy in the beginning by Nandu is excellent. As this is a Mahesh Babu film, a chase sequence is mandatory and the whole beginning is excellent. The story of this film is so crisp and new that it keeps you engaged at every minute. After the murder of Shiva Reddy, the real suspense starts and Pardhu is introduced and then I don't really think one could guess what was going to happen next.

When watching this film for the first time, I was expecting it to be a completely different film and it just exceeded my expectations to the limit. This is a family entertainer than can be watched over and over again because of just how good it is. The dialogues, screenplay, music, action, comedy, sentiment, direction, just everything about this film is perfect. Mahesh Babu's performance is the icing on the cake and I highly doubt he and Trivikram knew a what a classic film they were going to make during the filming stages.

The first of the film is excellent and has a superb interval twist. The 2nd half is even better with the suspense and the twists all being revealed in the last 20 minutes. The penultimate scene between Mahesh and Nasser is brilliant and arguably the best scene in the film barring Tanikella Bharani's entertaining act.

On a whole, Athadu is an absolute classic and one of the best films ever made in Telugu cinema. It is also the most stylish.  This movie has everything from entertainment to suspense to action and brilliant music. Athadu is a must watch for every Telugu film fan and is highly recommended for Indian film fans in general.

If you have watched it, then you will agree that it is amazing and if you haven't watched it, then after reading this review close this page, type Athadu into Youtube and watch this amazing family entertainer. I'm going with 10/10.