Athadu (Telugu: అతడు) is a 2005 Telugu film produced by RamMohan.M and D.Kishore and directed by Trivikram Srinivas. The movie stars Mahesh Babu, Trisha Krishnan, Sonu Sood, Nassar and Prakash Raj. The movie soundtrack was scored by Mani Sharma. The film released on 10 August 2005. The film went on to become one of the highest grossing films in Tollywood. But this film story line is loosely based on 1988 Telugu movie Varasudochhadu starring Venkatesh. The movie was dubbed into Tamil and Malayalam languages as Nandhu and Target respectively. Athadu has also been remade in Hindi as Ek The Power of One and in Bengali as Wanted.

Plot[link]

Nanda Gopal /Nandu (Mahesh Babu) is a professional assassin, and Malli (Sonu Sood) is his partner. They charge Rs. 1.5 crore per assassination.

A party leader, Shiva Reddy (Sayaji Shinde), wants someone to attempt an assassination on him so that he can get more sympathy votes in the upcoming election. Shiva Reddy's colleague Baji Reddy(Kota Srinivasa Rao) hooks him up with Nandu for a deal. However, before Nandu can shoot Shiva Reddy, someone else fatally shoots him. Within minutes, police surround the building. Just before the exit of the building, a big car accident occurs on the street with Nandu's car. Nandu assumes that Malli got trapped and died in the accident. So Nandu goes to the top of the skyscraper. With the police behind him and in front of him, he is helpless. Suddenly a train comes and Nandu uses a rope to jump from the skyscraper to the train.

On the train, Nandu meets Pardhu (Rajiv Kanakala). Pardhu reveals that he ran away from his village, Basarlapudi, when he was young. Pardhu explains that he is finally returning to his village. Later that same evening, while aiming for Nandu, the police accidentally shoot Pardhu. Nandu escapes and decided to go to Basarlapudi. Thinking that Nandu is Pardhu, Pardhu's family accepts Nandu into their family.

Meanwhile, a CBI officer, Anjaneya Prasad (Prakash Raj), investigating the murder of Shiva Reddy comes across Nandu alias Pardhu. He suspects Nandu of Shiva Reddy's murder.He tries taking Nandu's fingerprints unconventionally but Nandu outsmarts him. Soon clues lead to Malli but he is dead.

Meanwhile, in Barslapudi, after the marriage of the grand-daughter was over, the CBI come because they find out that Nandu is not Pardhu and suspect that Nandu is the killer. Nandu learns of the situation and flees. After the CBI leave, Nandu returns to explain everything: who is he and how the real Pardhu got killed. At first the family shows no interest in helping Nandu to find the real assassin as they are all shocked but the grandfather (Nassar) helps Nandu by giving him a gun. Nandu calls Baji Reddy and demands to know who killed Shiva Reddy. At first, Baji Reddy refuses but after Nandu tells him that he recorded their first conservation on the phone, Baji Reddy reveals everything. It was Malli who killed Shiva Reddy for 2 crores. He faked his death by sending a drunkard in the car at the time of the accident. Nandu records this conversation and immediately leaves for the old church, where Malli is. Nandu and Malli meet and Nandu has the gun loaded before Malli. But the same policemen who killed Pardhu barge in. Nandu manages to kill all of them and also kill Malli. Nandu hands over the recorded cassette to the CBI officer. The CBI officer goes directly to Bajji Reddy's office and tells him that he will hand him over to the police. Baji Reddy tells him that he has no concrete evidence. The CBI officer tells him that the tape is evidence enough for Siva Reddy's hot headed son,who has vowed vengeance for his father's death.Trapped without any recourse,Baji Reddy commits suicide. In the last scene, Nandu immerses Pardhu's ashes and the CBI officer lets him go to Pardhu's real family, where he plans to stay forever.

Cast[link]

• Mahesh Babu ... Nanda Gopal / Nandu / Pardhu
• Trisha Krishnan ... Puri
• Sonu Sood ... Malli
• Prakash Raj ... Anjaneya Prasad (CBI Officer)
• Nassar ... Satya Narayana Murthy
• Brahmanandam ... Uncle of Puri
• Sunil ... Ramana
• Sayaji Shinde ... Shiva Reddy
• Rajiv Kanakala ... Pardhasaradhi alias Pardhu
• Kota Srinivasa Rao ... Baaji Reddy
• Uday Nair ... Puri's Kid Brother
• Rahul Dev ... Sadhu
• Ajay ... Pratap Reddy
• Sudha ... Aunt (Mom of puri)
• Giri Babu ... Puri's father
• K. Vishwanath ... CBI Officer
• Dharmavarapu Subramanyam ... Uncle of Puri
• Tanikella Bharani ... Naidu
• Brahmaji ... Nagasamudram Bujji
• Posani Krishna Murali ... Farooq

Crew[link]

• Producer: Murali Mohan & Jayabheri Kishore
• Art: Thotta Tharani
• Cinematography: K.V. Guhan
• Stunts: Peter Heins
• Music: Mani Sharma
• Choreography: Vaibhavi Merchant, Raju Sundaram, & Brinda
• Editing: Sreekar Prasad

Soundtrack[link]

Awards[link]

Nandi Awards

• Best Actor - Mahesh Babu
• Best Dialogue Writer - Trivikram Srinivas

Filmfare Awards South

• Best Director - Trivikram Srinivas

Santosham Film Awards

• Best Film - M. Rammohan

Release[link]

The film was released with 6 prints in U.S.A.^[3] and in 3 screens in Chennai.^[4]

The DVD version of the movie was released by KAD under its IDREAM Brand, and won the best DVD award for its quality

Box-office performance[link]

• The film netted Rs.10.5 lakhs from 3 screens in Chennai in its opening weekend debuting at no. 2.^[4]
• It collected approximately Rs.40 million in its total run,thus becoming the sensational hit of 2005 in Tollywood.^[5] Its satellite rights were sold for Rs.18 million.^[6]
• The film had a 50 days run in 205 centres Athadu 50 days centres and a 100-day run in 38 centres.^[7] The film had a 175-day run in Sudarshan 35 mm, Hyderabad.,^[8] grossing Rs.10.40 million from the theatre.^[5]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Athadu at the Internet Movie Database
• Athadu at AllRovi
• Lyrics Of Athadu Lyrics On MusicMazaa.com
• More about Athadu More about Athadu on 16reels.com
• Athadu Film At Basthi.com

Mahesh Babu
Mahesh Babu at the Univercell store in - 2010.
Born	Mahesh Babu Ghattamaneni (1975-08-09) August 9, 1975 (age 36)[1] Madras, Tamil Nadu, India
Residence	Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1979–1991 1999–present
Spouse	Namrata Shirodkar (2005 - Present)
Children	Gautam Krishna Ghattamaneni
Parents	Siva Rama Krishna Ghattamaneni Indira Devi

Mahesh Babu (born Mahesh Babu Ghattamaneni on 9 August 1975) is an Indian film actor best known for his work in Telugu cinema. Born to actor Krishna, Mahesh Babu faced the camera at the age of four as a child artist in 1979's Needa. His first leading role was in the film Rajakumarudu, which was released in August 1999.^[2]

After playing the role of a young Kabaddi player in the 2003 blockbuster film Okkadu, Mahesh continued in this vein, gaining mass appeal and appearing in many successful films such as Murari (2001), Athadu (2005), Pokiri (2006), Dookudu (2011) and Business Man (2012).^[3] These accomplishments, have established him as one of the most sought after actors in Telugu Cinema.^[4] He was listed at 5th position among Times 50 Most Desirable Men for the year 2011 and at 12th place the year before.^[5][6]

Mahesh Babu has worked in nine films as a child artist and in seventeen films as a lead actor till date. He has won six Andhra Pradesh state Nandi Awards, two Filmfare Best Telugu Actor Awards and two CineMAA Awards. In addition to the films, he also endorses several brands such as Thums Up, Navratna Oil, Univercell, Amrutanjan,^[7] Provogue,^[8] Idea, Vivel, Jos Alukkas^[9] and Santoor Soap in Andhra Pradesh.^[7][10]

Early life[link]

Mahesh Babu was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, to prominent Telugu Cinema Actor Ghatamaneni Siva Rama Krishna and Smt. Indira Devi on August 9, 1975.^[11] He is the younger brother of actor turned producer Ramesh Babu Ghattamaneni.^[12] He also has two elder sisters, Padmavathi and actress-producer Manjula Ghattamaneni and one younger sister Priyadarshini.^[13] All siblings have the rare honor of having acted in films as child artistes. Mahesh’s childhood was spent mostly in Madras under the care of his paternal grandmother Smt. Durgamma and the rest of his family.^[14] His father made sure all the children spent sufficient time with him on location and on his sets, especially during holidays. Mahesh many times said that this was where his interest for acting began.^[15] The film sets were a second playground and he did not hesitate to face the camera when asked to do a small role in his brother Ramesh Babu‘s debut film, Needa at the age of 4.^[15] Mahesh studied at St. Bede‘s School in Chennai while continuing to attend his dad’s filming during holidays.^[16] Few of his schoolmates at St.Bede's were Surya (Tamil film actor) and Vishnuvardhan (Tamil film director).^[17] Mahesh obtained an Honours Degree in Commerce from Loyola College, Chennai.^[18] Mahesh Babu acted in seven of his father's films as a child actor.

Personal life[link]

Mahesh dated Bollywood actress and former Femina Miss India Namrata Shirodkar for five years.^[19] She was his co-star in the movie Vamsi. They got married on February 10, 2005 in Mumbai.^[20] They have a son named Gautam Krishna (b. 31 August 2006).^[21]

Career[link]

Early career (1979-1990)[link]

He started his acting career by playing a small role in his brother Ramesh Babu‘s debut film, Needa under Dr. Dasari Narayana Rao's direction in 1979, at the age of 4.^[22] In 1983, at the age of 8, director Kodi Ramakrishna requested him to play a role in the film Poratam since they were having difficulty casting for the role of Krishna’s sibling. This was his first full length feature film.^[23] Producer / Director Dhoondy, one of the early backers of Krishna in his struggling days, watched a preview of the movie and was stunned to find out he was Krishna’s own son and remarked that there was a spark in him and he would become an excellent artist.^[24] True to that prognostication, Mahesh went on to win the hearts of many Telugu film lovers as a child artist through varied roles. In Sankharavam (1987) he faced the cameras with his father directing him for the first time.^[25] Veteran director A. Kodandarami Reddy directed him and his brother Ramesh for Bazaar Rowdy (1988), where he won accolades for his acting.^[26] Mugguru Kodukulu (1988) saw him again team up with his brother and father, the father directing them all this time.^[27] Gudachari 117 (1989) reunited Mahesh with his first film director Kodi Ramakrishna in a James Bond type of flick for which his dad, the lead in the movie, was famous.^[28] Koduku Diddina Kapuram (1989), directed by Krishna again, had Mahesh in a dual role.^[29] Balachandrudu and Anna Tammudu (1990) saw the teenaged Mahesh Babu completing his first innings on celluloid after which he concentrated on his studies and went out of the public eye while letting nature take its course through the awkward adolescent years.^[30]

1999-2004[link]

In 1999, Mahesh was re-introduced as a full-fledged hero with the movie Raja Kumarudu (The Prince).^[31] Directed by K. Raghavendra Rao and co-starring Priety Zinta, this movie was a debonair start for his career earning him Nandi Award for Best Male Debutant.^[32] After the movie was released, both fans and the media started fondly calling him Prince Mahesh.^[33] His next release Yuvaraju followed in the year 2000.^[34] Directed by Y.V.S Chowdary, the movie did moderately well at the box office completing 100 days in 19 centers all over AP.^[35] In the same year, another movie Vamsi under the direction of B. Gopal was released and this movie had Namrata Shirodkar co-starring for the first time with Mahesh.^[36] During the movie, the on screen couple Mahesh and Namrata started seeing each other in real life and this relationship later resulted in their marriage.^[37]

In 2001, his successful movie Murari, Directed by Krishna Vamsi and co-starring Sonali Bendre, was released^[38] and earned Mahesh plaudits from all sections of audience and from critics.^[39] He bagged a Nandi Special Jury Award^[40] for his performance in the film. Takkari Donga, produced and directed by Jayanth C. Paranjee was released in 2002, where Mahesh essayed the role of a cowboy.^[41] The role and the movie were meant to honor the legacy of Krishna as the first ever Indian cowboy and also the first Indian cowboy movie Mosagallaku Mosagadu.^[42] His untiring effort in the movie led to another Nandi Special Jury Award.^[43] He had another release in that year, Bobby. Mahesh was paired along Aarthi Agarwal in this movie which was directed by Sobhan.^[44]

Mahesh was next seen in Okkadu directed by Gunasekhar and co-starring Bhumika Chawla, the movie was produced by M.S. Raju.^[45] This movie was released in 2003 and it remains as a landmark film in Mahesh Babu's career. He won his first Filmfare Best Actor Award (Telugu) for this movie.^[46] His next movie Nijam co-starring Rakshita was directed by Teja.^[47] Mahesh‘s performance acquired him the prestigious Nandi Award for Best Actor.^[48] In 2004, he worked with director S. J. Suryaah and had paired with Amisha Patel for the movie Naani.^[49] This movie was produced by his sister Manjula Ghattamaneni.^[50] The same year also had Mahesh again collaborating with Gunasekhar for his next movie Arjun which was produced by his brother G. Ramesh Babu.^[51] He received a Nandi Special Jury Award for his emotional performance in the film.^[52]

2005-2010[link]

In 2005, Mahesh married Namrata Shirodkar after being in a relationship with her for almost 5 years.^[53] The year also saw the first release after his marriage and Trivikram Srinivas’s second directorial venture, Athadu.^[54] He was paired alongside with Trisha Krishnan. Mahesh once again achieved critical acclaim for his performance in the movie and also earned himself the Nandi Award for Best Actor for the second time.^[55] Pokiri, produced jointly by his sister Manjula Ghattamaneni and Vaishno Academy and directed by Puri Jagannadh was the highest grossing Telugu film of the year.^[56] The movie saw him paired alongside with Ileana D'Cruz. Pokiri was a success in AP as well as other states and overseas. The film completed 100 days in as many as 200 centres in Andhra Pradesh and completed silver jubilee in a record 63 centres.^[57] Mahesh earned his second Filmfare award for this movie.^[58]

The year also saw Mahesh working again with Director Gunasekhar and actress Trisha Krishnan for the movie Sainikudu.^[59] In 2007, for his next venture Mahesh embraced corporate film making in Telugu Film Industry.^[60] He collaborated with UTV and with young director Surender Reddy for Athidi which made him the first corporate hero in Telugu Film Industry.^[61] He was paired along side Amrita Rao.^[62] After Athidi, Mahesh devoted more time to family matters with a new toddler to spend time with, supporting and helping Namrata cope with her father’s illness and then his death, followed by Namrata’s mother’s bout with cancer and her death.^[63] In 2008, Mahesh lent his voice for the film Jalsa, directed by his friend Trivikram Srinivas.^[64] In 2009 Mahesh started working on a movie with Trivikram Srinivas as director.^[65]

In 2010, after a 3 year long hiatus Mahesh returned to the silver screen with the movie Khaaleja.^[66] Directed by his friend Trivikram Srinivas, the movie languished in development hell due to production problems^[67] and the telangana agitations.^[68] Upon release, the movie received mixed reviews and also became one of the highest grossing Telugu films overseas.^[69] The year also saw Mahesh embracing social networking site Twitter to interact with his fans.^[70]

2011–present[link]

In 2011, Mahesh's film Dookudu co–starring Samantha Ruth Prabhu was released. Directed by Srinu Vaitla and was produced by 14 Reels Entertainment, it broke many records in the Telugu film industry upon release by taking the largest worldwide opening, earning 21.2 crores in 3 days,^[71] and becoming the highest grossing Telugu film overseas^[72] by earning 1.5 million dollars in the first weekend.^[73] The film set a box office record for the Telugu film industry by collecting a gross of more than 1 billion^[74] and completed a successful run in 312 centers after 50 days.^[75] CNN-IBN for the year 2011, declared him as the Actor of the Year and Dookudu as the Hit of the Year in a survey conducted for Telugu films.^[76] Mahesh began shooting for Business Man co–starring Kajal Aggarwal. The film was directed by Puri Jagannadh and produced by RR Movie Makers, releasing worldwide on January 13, 2012.^[77] Similar to his previous release, it took the largest worldwide opening^[78] by collecting 18.73 crores on the first day^[79] and 62.93 crores worldwide in the first week.^[80] For the first time in his career, Mahesh along with the director Puri Jagannadh lent his vocals for a song in the project.^[81] According to certain reports, Mahesh emerged as the highest paid actor in South India after Rajnikanth.^[82] He was listed 5th in the Times survey of the 50 Most Desirable Men in India, becoming the only South Indian to have been done so.^[83]

His next venture is a multi–starrer Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu under the direction of Srikanth Addala.^[84] Being produced by Dil Raju, it also stars Daggubati Venkatesh in a leading role. The film was officially launched on October 6, 2011 and the filming began on January 18, 2012.^[85] He has also signed up for a role in a film under the direction of Sukumar. The film will be produced by 14 Reels Entertainment and was launched on 12 February 2012.^{[86] [87]} He also hired Hollywood trainer Mike Ryan as his personal trainer.^[88]

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Mahesh Babu at the Internet Movie Database
• Mahesh Babu on Twitter

Tanikella Bharani
Born	(1956-07-14) July 14, 1956 (age 55) Secundrabad, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India
Occupation	Actor, Writer and Director
Years active	1984 to present
Spouse	Durga Bhavani
Children	Maha Teja, Soundarya Lahari
Parents	Sethu Ramalingeswara Rao, Laxmi Narasamma.

Tanikella Bharani (Telugu: తనికెళ్ళ భరణి) (born on 14 July 1956) is an Indian film and theater actor, dialogue writer, screen writer, poet, magazine editor, playwright and director. He has worked in more than 500 films (Including Tamil, Kannada and Hindi).

Early life[link]

Tanikella Bharani was born in Secunderabad at Gandhi Hospital(then it was King George Memorial (KM)), Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh to TVV Setu Ramalingeswar Rao and Laxminarasamma of Brahmin community. He is a commerce graduate, B.Com and a PG Diploma in Theatre Arts.

His great grand father is Diwakarla Venkatavadhani, a Telugu scholar and Divakarla Tirupati Sastry. His uncle is Viswanatha Satyanarayana.

Career[link]

Bharani did stage plays in the mid 70s and during this time he made the acquaintance of Rallapalli, a Tollywood actor. With his help Bharani started writing small dialogues and stage scenes. Later, he took a diploma in Theatre arts. Following Rallapalli's advice he moved to Chennai.

He started his career as a dialogue writer for Kanchu Kavachum in 1984. and has written dialogues for various movies like Ladies Tailor (1985 film), Sri Kanaka Mahalakshmi Recording Dance Troupe (1987), Varasudochhadu (1988), Chettu Kinda Pleader (1989), Swara Kalpana (1989), and Seenu Vasanthi Lakshmi (2004). Bharani also penned and sung the lyrics of Gundammagaari Manavadu (Bhale Bhaleti Mandu).

He has acted in more than 500 movies starting with 'Ladies Tailor‘ (1985) & Sri Kanaka Mahalakshmi Recording Dance Troupe’ (1987) in which he was seen as Dora Babu. In 1989 he appeared in the hit film Shiva by Ram Gopal Varma which starred Nagarjuna. With the release of the film Shiva, he received much recognition and his character Nanaji impressed the whole Telugu audience. He also played the lead role in the Hindi comedy film Main Tere Pyar Mein Pagal in 1999. His powerful antagonism in ‘Samudram’ got him the Nandi award as the Best Villain.

After 2000, he started playing more mature roles in movies like Manmadhudu (2002), Okariki Okaru (2003), Samba (2004), Malliswari, Godavari (2006), Happy (2006), and more.

He played one of the lead roles in Rajubhai (2007).

He is very much popular in the background of movie industry, often quoted as "Maga Saraswathy" ( Male god of education) by different actors and actresses.

Personal life[link]

Bharani is married to Bhavani and has a son, Maha Teja and a daughter, Soundarya Lahari.

Books[link]

1. Parikini ^[1]
2. Nakshatra Darshanam ^[2]
3. Maathralu ^[3]
4. Endaro Mahanubavulu ^[4]

Awards[link]

State Government Awards (Nandi Awards) 

• Best Villain - Samudram
• Best Character Actor - Nuvvu Nenu
• Sangam Academy award for completing 25 years in Telugu Cinema ^[5][6]

Awards for Short Films (as a Director) 

• Idaho Panhandle Award, Hyderabad International Film Festival Award as the Best Debut Director for Sira, The Ink.
• Sira,the ink:-movie won the `Best Antiterrorism Message Award’ at the 'Idaho Panhandle International Film Festival'. (The movie directed by tanikella bharani and first surrealistic movie in telugu surreleastic:correlating the shattered images of your dream and made as movie)^[7]

• 10th Mumbai International Film Festival Award
• Hyderabad International Film Festival Award as the Best Director for Blue Cross.

[edit] Filmography ^[8]