Aagadu – Movie Review

Film: Aagadu
Cast: Mahesh Babu, Tamanna, Sonu Sood, Rajendra Prasad, Brahmanandam, Asish Vidyardhi, Ajay, Vennela Kishore, Nassar, Raghu Karumanchi, Posani Krishna Murali, Rao Ramesh, Sameer, Brahmaji, Sekhar, Prabhas Sreenu,
Cinematography: KV Guhan
Music: Thaman S.S.
Choreography: Prem Rakshit
Art: A.S. Prakash
Action: Vijay
Editor: M.R. Varma
Written by: Anil Ravipudi, Upendra Madhav & Praveen Varma
Producers: Ram Achanta, Gopichand Achanta & Anil Sunkara
Directed by: Srinu Vaitla
Release date: 19 September, 2014

Aagadu…hmmn…what do we say? Haven’t we seen films in this template before? Is Mahesh Babu being repetitive? That’s what you will feel when you walk after seeing the film. ‘Dookudu’, ‘Gabbar Singh’, ‘Pokiri’…this film has heavy semblance with these.

After coming to that conclusion let’s get down to the story…

CI Shankar (Mahesh Babu) is popular for his brave attitude. He is also known as ‘Encounter Shankar’. He is sent to a town which is ruled by Sonu Sood. This will remind you of the the 90’s films that had villains whom nobody dared. Enters our hero to save the sufferers. He has Nasser, Vennela Kishore, Raghu as his subordinates. The flavour is of Pawan Kalyan starrer ‘Gabbar Singh’ here. The hero initially takes on the subordinates of the lead villain. He tramples them. Enter villain and takes on the hero directly. The rest of the story is about how Shankar kicks Sonu Sood the baddie and crumbles his empire. In between there is a love angle with Tamannah. For Shanker its love at first sight with the lady, who sells sweets for a living.

Director Srinu Vaitla has thrown the script of this film to the winds. He relies on comedy, but at times it’s too much. Moreover comedy is overpowered by Mahesh’ heroism. Police parodies are highlighted, but like we said before haven’t we seen it. The spoof on the game show is also tried and tested elsewhere. What was Vaitla thinking?

Those dialogues are good. Some of them are in rhyming English and we must say they are wee bit difficult to follow. S S Thaman’s songs are good, so are the editing, cinematography and the art work. Performance wise Mahesh gives his best. He enacts his character with ease. Tamannah has paired for the first time with Mahesh. But they pair fail to create the much necessary impact. Looks like the talented actress is wasted in this film. Shruthi Hassan sizzles in the item number. Rajendra Prasad’s screen play is good. Brahmi is too loud. M S Narayana and Vennela Kishore do a fine job. Sonu Sood has given a good performance.

Overall Aagadu doesn’t pass the muster. The director and the lead actor have repeated themselves. ‘Aagadu’ is definitely not a heavy weight film.

Verdict: Fun in parts but fails to create impact