Film: Aagadu
Cast: Mahesh Babu, Tamannah
Director: Srinu Vaitla
Mahesh Babu’s on screen presence is nothing new. His charm is abundant. His performance in the role of encounter specialist Shanker in Aagadu too has the same effect. Mahesh’s strength is his quick and short yet impactful dialogue delivery, which has been well exploited by writers. The characters too are well-established.
The story begins with little Shanker who hatches a smart plan to catch a gang of thieves. Impressed, circle inspector (Rajendra Prasad) inquires about the boy and finds out that Shanker is an orphan. He adopts him into his family, that comprises his son and himself. This happy and content family falls apart when the elder brother accidentally kills another boy in a street brawl. Shanker takes the blame on himself and goes to juvenile prison. He outshines and becomes a police officer. This drags on for a while and just when it begins to get boring, an
older Shanker (Mahesh Babu) gets on duty, killing a high profile local goon who is too much to handle. The fight sequences are real, with Mahesh perfectly essaying his job of a performer. The story then shifts focus to Bukkapatanam where antagonist Sonu Sood(Damodar) has everyone under his grip. He kills people who raise a finger against him, even if it is a police officer.
The instance here is when he kills one man who tries to put a stop to his dream project that could snatch away livelihoods of people in that city. Shanker gets deputed to the same town on a mission to get the project stalled while also ensuring that order returns to the town. And every time he starts his plan to outwit one goon, he creates a story. The first time is definitely worth a laugh. But by the fifth time, it gets redundant. Saroja (Tamannah) plays the role of Shanker’s love interest. Her role as the managing director of Saroja Sweets is impressive. But she becomes insignificant after a while. In fact, one might just forget after a while that she starred in the film.
Sonu Sood’s Damodar is well established. But by the time the movie reaches the second half, he becomes a passing character. His brother, Durga who takes care of the duo’s business is highly aggressive and repulsive. Ashish Vidyarthi, plays the role of a senior inspector who is close to Damodar, along with the local MLA.
Bramhanandam too enters in the second half as Delhi Suri who is used by Shanker in a plot to bring down Damodar. The comedy sequences are highly redundant. In fact, not a single dialogue by Delhi Suri makes you laugh. These three characters overshadow Damodar’s. And by the time Shanker reaches Damodar, it is just a short fight – two straight punches and Damodar is on Shanker’s feet. One thing to look
forward is the machoism when Mahesh and Sonu come face to face. Database Danayya played by MS Narayana who appears intermittently is also job done well.
Shruti Hassan, who gave a special appearance doesn’t impress much. Nassar, Vennela Kishore, Ravibabu, Posani Krishna Murali all add a better comic element to the story compared to Bramhanandam. Inspite of an entertaining first half, Aagadu fizzles out in the second half and makes for an ordinary affair.