Aadikeshava Review: Outdated Commercial Film

Aadikeshava is a Telugu-language action drama which is written and directed by Srikanth N. Reddy. The film has Panja Vaisshnav Tej & Sreeleela in the lead roles while Joju George, Sada, Aparna Das, Radhika Sarathkumar, Jayaprakash, Suman, Sudharshan, Sudha & others are seen in important supporting roles. The music is composed by GV Prakash Kumar and the film is produced by Naga Vamsi S & Sai Soujanya under Sithara Entertainments & Fortune Four Cinemas banners.

Story:

Balu (Vaisshnav Tej) is a happy-go-lucky guy living with his parents ( Radhika Sarathkumar & Jayaprakash) and is jobless in life. Due to his father’s reprimand, he joins a cosmetic company headed by Chitra (Sreeleela) and works as a sales lead. As time goes by Balu & Chitra become very close and fall in love. One day, Balu gets the shock of his life as he gets to know that he is actually the son of Mahakaleshwar Reddy (Suman). Who is Mahakaleshwar Reddy? How is he connected to Chenga Reddy (Joju George)? What will Balu do next? Needs to be seen in the film.

What about on-screen performances?

Panja Vaisshnav Tej impresses with his mass avatar. He gets a complete makeover from his previous films and he does well in both his shades in the film. He tries his hand in comedy too this time and passes with flying colours but there is still scope for improvement with respect to his funny side.

Sreeleela once again leaves a mark with her performance and kills it as usual with her energetic dance moves. She looks very glamorous in this film and she is a complete treat in all the songs.

Sudharshan is another main asset to the film. His funny one-liners provide the much-needed laughs in the middle portions.

Joju George is pretty decent as the main antagonist. His screen presence is good but he should have had more powerful scenes.

Sada & Suman are wasted in very limited roles. Their characters are not completely fleshed out, and their forced slang looks artificial.

Aparna Das leaves a fine mark in her important role.

Radhika Sarathkumar & Jayaprakash are good as the hero’s parents.

The rest of the supporting cast are okay in their parts.

What about off-screen talents?

The story by Srikanth N. Reddy lacks novelty and is a typical commercial entertainer that used to come in the 2000s. The way he connected the core conflict point revolving around mining and the love track to a mass backdrop with a family angle is pretty underwhelming and is something that never works in today’s times.

His screenplay too is poorly written. There are too many undercooked scenes that never make proper sense and are only used for commercial purposes. The hero & heroine introduction sequences, the entire love track, the villain portions, the child molestation episode, and the transformation scenes of the lead actor from a boy next door to a mass hero are pure examples of this.

Director Srikanth N. Reddy’s presentation and treatment is outdated. The blend between the romantic portions, comedy scenes, and action episodes is unnatural and looks very forced. Even the characterizations are not up to the mark. He should have concentrated more on writing a seamless script rather than focusing much on how creatively the hero should kill the villains or what all new weapons the hero should use to make the killings look more commercial.

The cinematography by Dudley and the additional cinematography by Prasad Murella & Arthur A. Wilson is good. All the songs and action episodes are shot well.

Songs by GV Prakash Kumar are decent. ‘Leelammo’ song is a mass treat on-screen with superb dances and even the ‘Sittharala Sithravathi’ song is choreographed neatly. But his background score is just okay in parts. The score appears a bit too loud in a few places, especially in the action parts in the latter half.

The edit by Navin Nooli is crisp and sharp. Action choreography by Ram Lakshman, Venkat & Rahul and the dance choreography by Shekar VJ deserve a special mention.

The production values by Sithara Entertainments & Fortune Four Cinemas are first-rate.

What’s Hot?

* Vaisshnav Tej’s Performance
* Sreeleela’s Performance & Dances
* Sudharshan’s Comedy Scenes
* Leelammo & Sittharala Sithravathi Songs
* Climax Fight
* Cinematography & Production Values

What’s Not?

* Lacks Novelty In The Plot
* Outdated Treatment
* Routine Characterizations
* Too Many Half Baked Scenes
* Forced Commercial Elements
* Boring Second Half
* Poor Villain Portions

Verdict: Overall Aadikeshava is an outdated commercial film that would have been a success if it had been released in the early 2000s. Except for Vaisshnav Tej’s transformation into a commercial hero & Sreeleela’s dances, there is nothing much to look forward to in this film.

Telugubulletin.com Rating: 2.25/5