Film: Aatadukundam Ra Cast: Sushanth, Sonam Bajwa, Murali Sharma, Brahmanandam Director: G Nageswara Reddy Rating: 2 stars |
Two sworn enemies, a misunderstanding that leads to breaking up of two close families, a young guy who vows to take revenge against those who cheated his father and broke the families apart. Heard this story before? Yes, director G Nageswara Reddy's latest film Aatadukundam Raa is just another re-hash of the many formulaic entertainers that Tollywood churns out on an alarmingly regular basis. The film is so predictable that you could sleep through it entirely and still be able to tell what happened.
Vijayram (Murali Sharma) is a wealthy businessman who constantly outbids Shantaram (Feroz Abbasi) for major contracts. Jealous of his success, the devious Shantaram along with his aide Somaraju (Posani Murali Krishna) decide to bring down Vijayram's empire. Through his best friend Anand, they cheat Vijayram with a fake deal, leaving him with nothing but a rice-mill. When Vijayram forced to sell the rice mill to get his niece married, his nephew Karthik (Sushanth) flies down from America and tries to be the saviour. How Karthik single-handedly restores his family's lost wealth and pride and seeks revenge against Shantaram and his goons, forms the crux of the story.
Positives first (since there are so few of them), the director has packed loads of humour in it to make up for the lack of a proper story. While some of the humour is quite lame, there's enough in the film to trigger a few laughs. Brahmanandam is in top form and almost single-handedly saves this film. His reactions and quick wit during the otherwise bizarre time-turner sequences, are fun to watch.
Trouble with Aatadukundam Ra is that there's absolutely no element of surprise or anything in it that can even remotely grip the viewers. The constant tributes to the Akkineni family
doesn't help either. I mean, we get it that Sushanth is the grandson of the legendary ANR and the nephew of Nagarjuna, but do we need the director to remind us of it throughout the movie? It's a desperate attempt to piggy-bank on the Akkineni fan base and shows that the director isn't confident in his own story.
The typical 'Baava-Mardalu' love story reeks of predictability. The girl (Sonam Bajwa) hates the boy, but soon falls for him when she realises he has a heart of gold. Songs at regular intervals remind us that they are supposed to be a couple. Expectedly, the songs jerk the narrative and add no value to the film. This is definitely not Anup Ruben's best work.
Actor Sushanth needs to do more than just take the Akkineni name, in order to be recognised as a good actor in mainstream cinema. He neither looks the part nor acts it. It's an exaggerated performance and at no point do you feel like rooting for him. Perhaps, he should seek inspiration from some of the brilliant supporting actors in the film -- Brahmanandam, Murali Sharma, Posani Murali Krishna, Prudhviraj and Vennela Kishore -- who deliver excellent performances. Sonam Bajwa dances around in skimpy clothes and does little otherwise. Climax is hurried and cliched and the end credits come as a relief. A complete lack of originality and depth in the script makes Aatadukundam Ra a lacklustre watch.