Atidhi - Mahesh All the way

Movie making is an art. Some people spend all their energy on the scripting part to ensure there is a solid screenplay with twists and turns thrown in between to keep the narration engrossing and interesting. However some people start by assuming that the role would be done by a specific actor and then weave a story around him/her keeping in mind the body language of the actor and the expectations people have on the actor.

Atidhi unfortunately seems to be product from the second school of thought. It doesn't have a story worth speaking of. It relies heavily on the screenplay and the amazing screen presence of Mahesh Babu, a man who singlehandedly rescues this movie from sinking at the box office and what more! he even makes it enjoyable for most part of the movie.

It has traces of a few movies we have seen before (Pokiri, Athadu, Man on Fire) but what makes this different, and I assure you it is different, is the freshness of its screenplay. Some of the sequences are well shot and are imaginative. A case in point is the very first Fight episode. Another is the sequence with Ashish Vidyarthi in the middle of the movie. And then we have the ICICI episode towards the very end.

Sadly, such glimpses of brilliance are a minority in this three hour long saga which takes nearly an hour and a half to get into the real plot. The entire first half rides only on Mahesh' extraordinary sense of timing and Amrita Rao's Girl-Next-Door charm. Just when you begin wondering whether anything is going to happen at all, the story picks up momentum and prepares you well for the action packed second half, which is a whole lot better than the first albeit a terrible climax - or Anti climax in the last ten minutes of the movie. A climax like this in any other movie would not have seen so out of place as it does in this movie - purely because of the brilliant run up to the climax. The end did not live up to the expectations set by the director.

Coming to the performances, this is just a one man show - Mahesh Babu. He is in his elements in this movie. While the blockbusters and the superhits he has delivered so far have seen some aspects of his acting prowess, this movie exploits him to the core - bringing out the best in him. You get to experience a roller coaster ride of emotions - frustration, helplessness, confusion, love, hatred, joy - you name it - you have it. Watch out for his brilliant portrayal of anguish right at the end. It is fair to conclude that Atidhi is just Mahesh all the way - from start to finish

Amritha Rao, with her girl next door looks delivers a good performance and could match the leading guy eye to eye in most of the confrontational episodes. The new guy stepping into the shoes of the notorious Kaiser steals the show. Kudos to his efforts.

The rest do their part as required. Sunil and Brahmanandam provide a few laughs but their roles are not properly written.

Mani Sharma's music is pretty good and the songs look great on screen. Special mention to the cinematographer for his efforts on the song - Satyam Emito. Outstanding contribution. Rerecording could have been better what with some of the punch lines getting drowned in loud background music.

There was a comment by someone when the show was over. "Boss! Everything is great about this movie. Only problem is the director!". Aptly said - Surendar failed to use this opportunity. It could have been a very good thriller but unfortunately it doesn't rise to that level. Surender tried to put in twists and turns wherever possible and in the process forgot completely about the IQ of the average movie goer in Andhra Pradesh. Some of my friends who have accompanied me to the movie today could not understand some of these well shot episodes.

At the end of the day, Atidhi could have been better. For a change, do not leave your thinking cap outside the theatre when you go to this movie. You will need it very much! Just watch it for Mahesh Babu and his outstanding effort.

My opinion - Good.

The Art of Reviewing - Where to draw the line?

This is not a review of any movie but a generic take on what exactly are the responsibilities of a movie reviewer?

Let me set the context first. Suppose I am a great fan of a screen idol A, and I go to one of his movies on the day of its release - find that it was the worst movie I've seen till date - and say so in my review afterwards, am I cheating anybody?

For that matter, consider the second hypothetical scenario. Screen idol B, a rival hero to A, comes up with a movie that I find very good. If I mention this in my review, am I guilty of double crossing my favorite hero "A"?

What follows next is just my personal opinion on this issue. As a human being, I can have my own favorites - but when I don the hat of a movie reviewer, I need to approach the movie as a neutral person and judge it solely based on the movie - not based on the history of the actors in it.

Calling it a spade itself is quite an art. To do so without being bogged down by people's expectations on YOU and YOUR REVIEW is probably the toughest job you as a reviewer should take care of. Before entering the movie hall, you need to leave behind all baggages including your own favoritism.

Also you should resist from posting a detailed line by line account of the movie's plot. Avoid speculating on the movie's box office stamina because you simply are in no position to "predict" the audience response. If possible try not to get into the usual rating game (3 stars out of 5) etc because these ratings are seldom based on scientific analysis. It is often the gut feel of the reviewer. While I have nothing against the gut feel, (In fact I feel the gut feel should drive the tone of your review) it is wrong to assign a rating to the movie based on this. However you can do so by specifying clearly that it is your personal rating of the movie.

Either way - decimal points in a rating do not make any sense at all. It will only result in "Why 3.25 for this movie and 3.5 for that movie" discussions. Decimal points signify a more accurate number. When the whole rating fiasco is just a subjective take based on your gut feel, reducing the movie to a decimal point rating is doing a great disservice to the movie and to yourself.

If you have to have a rating, have a descriptive one instead. Something like Bad -> OK -> Good -> Very Good.

Remember, you need not bash a hero to bash the movie. And you need not bash a movie to bash a hero. These are two different things and try to separate these two when you are set to write your review.

All the best for the up coming Atidhi.

Signing off....
Platy.