Why is Athadu the greatest Telugu film made in modern times?

In Summer of 2012, I had visited Warangal for a day. During the afternoon, I was waiting for my friend at Kadambari restaurant in Hotel Ashoka. The usual buzz suddenly stopped and everyone looked at the TV. It was Maa TV and they were playing Athadu. It was the farmland fence dispute scene featuring Tanikella Bharani and Mahesh Babu. For five minutes, people almost stopped eating. There was no talking. Then there was a commercial break and normalcy resumed. Seven years after its release and multiple reruns, people still stop for a glimpse of brilliance.  That, gentlemen, is the greatness of this film called Athadu. 

I will not mince my words but Trivikram Srinivas, albeit his declining quality, is the best writer we have in Telugu film industry today. In Athadu, what he created was not short of magic. Be it the opening sequence shot in the green light, that sets out the subtle tone of the film, then there is a routine bank robbery but then there is an explosion of emotions that make you go insane when the young kid says, "Vaadu radanna. Champesanu". This is the point where you realize that it is not going to be anything ordinary. 

Superstar Mahesh Babu reinvented himself with Athadu. The intensity in his eyes in throughout the film is worth all your time and energy you've spent. I didn't say ticket money because greatness and money are mutually exclusive. As we progress into the film, there's the old city murder. The way the scene was shown twice in two different ways, first time like nothing really happened and then the second time, in super slow motion and how! Only select swear words can describe that exact feeling. And I am willing to use them all, should a need for verbal expression about the greatness of this movie arise. 

Coming to the comedy. There's hardly any disagreement that Brahmanandam's performance in Athadu is one of his finest. What seemed like one subtle fest suddenly becomes a raging sarcasm galore and how! What Brahmanandam did to this movie, nothing can take it away. My all time favorite dialogue remains, "Pellikoduku average anta kada!".

One of the least spoken about, not just in this movie, but any movie that he has acted in, is a Punjabi actor called Sonu Sood. To stand by Mahesh, match his body language, his height, his dialogue delivery, he's one man who has done his job well. So fucking well that nobody notices it. On a list of 10 things you know about Athadu, he is eleventh. Kudos Sonu, you will be in my heart forever for this role.

Tanikella Bharani. Mentioning what TB is to Athadu in one paragraph is an insult to begin with. But compared to the shamelessness of the current standard of Telugu cinema, I am confident I will do a good job. The scenes where Mahesh confronts TB in the farm fields is somehow the most enigmatic fight/confrontation scenes I have ever seen. There is only cold sarcasm behind those sharp dialogues, but then, you feels your stomach freeze in awe when you see Mahesh break those granite pillars and the words he speaks to TB.

There are certain scenes which will take you breath away. For example the subtle tact and genius with which Mahesh takes back Prakash Raj's visiting card. The one in which Mahesh writes down a cheque for Trisha's sister's marriage. The one where Prakash Raj discovers one of the policemen jumps the gun and fires a bullet at the signal. The one where the kids fall short of that one marble. The one where they realize that the money from such crimes is stashed in banks! and why not! There are more. But listing them down was never the objective of this post.

There are so many important characters. Nazar, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Sayaji Shinde, Prakash Raj, Rahul Dev and all else. This is not about listing them out either. But let us rise beyond the characters. Let us look at this movie from a birds eye view. It is just epic. It is an epitome of elegance which the ruthlessly foolish Telugu cinema audience of our times didn't recognize. Post-facto, everyone is a brilliant analyst. But I have been an ardent fan of this film ever since I watched it in Ramachandra 70mm - second show on the first day.

The dialogues of this film, if published as a book will sell more than Harry Potter or the Lord of The Rings, alas that's only limited by the Telugu speaking population, of which, I am a proud member. They are a standard. A benchmark which many pretentious films have competed to reach, albeit in vain. As a man born and brought up in Andhra Pradesh, Athadu is a film I am proud of. Are you?

And one last thing about Athadu is that, in a few years, it will be a universal fact that it is not a film. It is not even classic literature. It is time they declare Athadu a branch of science. It is 8 years and there is not an iota of difference in the number of goosebumps it gives you every time they watch it. That, gentlemen, is what makes Athadu the greatest Telugu film made in modern times. No conditions apply. Sheer brilliance.

Edit: March 2, 2021 - There was one thing I forgot to mention, without which, both the film and this article is incomplete - the astounding background music and songs composed by Sri Manisharma. The bgm in certain dramatic parts is so captivating and fitting that it elevates Mahesh's presence and the film per se to stratospheric levels. It took me a long time to make this edit - but all errors must be corrected.  

- Deepak Karamungikar

My favorite dialogue: "Vetaku velletappudu puli kallu ela untayo, ala untayi. Kopanga. Sootiga. Vaadu Meedku Dorakadu."