A straightforward cop with a supreme track record gets posted to a small town and is entrusted with the task of trampling injustice and curbing the menace of a local don. In the midst of his duel with the all-powerful villain, he discovers some truths that have a hazy connection to the death of his own family members. The impact it has on his job and does he succeed in his mission is what forms the crux of this good vs evil story.
Language:
Telugu
Running Time:
165 min
Rating:
U/A
Release date:
19 September 2014
Directed by:
Sreenu Vaitla
Produced by:
Anil Sunkara
Ram Achanta
Gopichand Achanta
Written by:
Gopimohan
Praveen Varma
Upendra Madhav
Anil Ravipudi
Starring:
Mahesh Babu
Tamanna Bhatia
Shruti Haasan
Brahmanandam
Prakash Raj
Napoleon Duraisamy
Music by:
S Thaman
Shot by:
KV Guhan
Editing by:
MR Varma

What’s Hot

  • Mahesh Babu’s hysterics and tantrums keep the audiences glued to their seats. If ‘Pokkiri’ showcased how he could casually pull off the body language of an undercover cop, ‘Khaleja’ & ‘Dookudu’ showcased his dialogue delivery skills, Aagadu is one which gives us a completely different portrayal of Mahesh as a wholesome package!! He is omnipresent and carries the whole movie on his shoulders with special mention for the punch dialogues and satire.
  • Sreenu Vaitla’s handling of a subject which is very much ‘old wine in an older bottle’, doesn’t bore you by any means as it is topped with all the commercial elements that you typically expect from him and ends up having all the ingredients to make this flick a saleable commodity.
  • Sonu Sood fulfills his role as the villain and Tamannah in the usual limited screen presence for heroines, does reasonably well. Nasser, the seasoned campaigner that he is, has a very unusual character to play and pulls it off with aplomb.
  • Brahmanandham does manage to evoke laughter while Vennela Kishore, Raghu Babu, Posani Krishna Murali and others have done their bit and play their part in keeping the audience entertained. Posani’s MEP episode and Brahmi’s medley are real highlights of the movie and bring the roof down in laughter.
  • Thaman’s background score gels pretty well with the movie and a couple of songs do stand out from the lot as well. Shruthi Haasan’s item number is easily the best and strikes the right chord while making one wonder why she wasn’t cast as the female lead in the first place – it’s all for good because we would have missed this electric performance then!

What’s Not

  • The story is too familiar and the events are too predictable as they are devoid of any suspense or even thrilling substance for that matter. It completely relies on Mahesh’s star-value to drive it to its finale. “Content weak ga unnappude publicity peak lo untadhi”, is one dialogue in the movie which seems to be taking a candid shot at this aspect of its own movie more than anything else.
  • Rajendra Prasad, being such an impactful actor, could have been provided more screen space. But the kind of obsession shown by the director with Mahesh Babu’s casting leaves almost no space for anyone else for that matter.

Badges

Verdict

Verdict Stamp

A super-cop, a dreaded don, a gorgeous heroine, a high-comic quotient and the hero avenging the death of this brother – sounds more like a movie from the 80s, huh??? Aagadu isn’t a movie that promises you a lot different from the other commercial products of this genre – yet this isn’t one that can be missed. Sit back and be prepared to be entertained.