BOTTOM LINE

Works to Some Extent on OTT with Targeted Audience

OUR RATING
2/5


What Is the Film About?

Anaganaga O Athidhi Movie Review

Srinu (Chaitanya Krishna) claims to be an orphan who makes money by wandering different places and write articles for media about those places. One day, he arrives at a house of a poor couple who live with their daughter, Mallika (Payal Rajput). He requests them to allow him to stay over the night. Their poverty gives rise to uncontrollable greed which leads to unexpected things in their lives.

How Is Performance?

Payal Rajput has got the meatiest character of her career and she tried her level best to fit in the shoes of a character stuffed with greed, lust, deceit. She looked good as a village belle but it would have been more authentic if she had avoided makeup totally. She is only partly successful in emoting in the character which is very demanding.

Anaganaga O Athidhi Movie Review

However, her body language is good for the character of a rebel lady. The dubbing for the character is good but she struggled to give proper lip-sync at places. Even though there are some discrepancies, it is still her career-best performance and she should be appreciated for doing such a bold role.


Direction?

Kannada Director Dayal Padmanaban makes a Telugu debut with Anaganga O Athidhi. It is the remake of his own Kannada film, Aa Kaala Ratri which is a critically acclaimed film there. The major essence of the film is How Greed pushes people to do unimaginable things that may backfire and burn themselves. This is a very strong point relevant to all times.

The director sets a predictable story and narrates it very slowly. Despite the movie just being 132 minutes, it feels excruciatingly long. The first major problem is the time taken to go into the story. The director takes so much time to establish the characters and their intentions. This is where the patience of the audience is tested. Probably, the director thought it is attention to detail but stories like this need gripping narration.

Anaganaga O Athidhi Movie Review

One more disappointing thing is the liberal usage of expletives in the name of boldness or mass. The advent of OTT gave rise to this unhealthy trend but then, when you have a theme universally appealing, they should be avoided. An ordinary family trying to do something so big should be backed by a motive. There is a motive here but it is not established seriously. The tracks of Nalla Venu and Amrutham Vasu feel irrelevant to the story. The reason for the hero not revealing who he is and the reason for the people at the liquor shop holding back the father are not so believable. The actual intention of the story is revealed only towards the end but by that time, the audience is already tired. But the intention of the message towards the end is the major good point about the film.

Anaganaga O Athidhi Movie Review

Finally, Anaganga O Athidi is a film made with good intention but could have been effectively executed to make the film more gripping. Having said that, it is a genre that is not everyone’s cup of tea. It works to some extent on OTT space for those who enjoy the kind of films normally enjoyed by Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada audience.


Others?

Anaganaga O Athidhi Movie ReviewAnaganaga O Athidi is a film set in a single location with limited characters. It is predominantly a story which moves around Payal Rajput. Chaitanya Krishna is the male lead in the film and sleepwalks in a character which is tailormade. It is that kind of role which does not need him to try anything different. So, he is good at whatever he is offered. The actors who were seen as the father and mother are impressive. Nalla Venu and Vasu Inturi are the only known faces in the rest of the characters but they are not relevant to the story.

Music and Other Departments?

Anaganaga O Athidhi Movie ReviewThe best part about films from AHA is the quality they maintain. Anaganaga O Athidhi is technically strong even though it is made on a limited budget. The visuals are good and the village locales at the start of the film are impressive. The house set in Ramoji film city is also good. Arrol Corelli’s background score is impressive. Some strong scenes should have further elevated it. The song about greed which comes in the background is good but at a point in time, we feel it is repeated too often. Editing should have been crispier at places.


Highlights?

Payal Rajput To Some Extent
The Underlying Message about Greed
Background Score

Drawbacks?

First 30-40 minutes
Weak Conflict Point.
No Strong Scenes
Slow pace


Alternative Take

Anaganaga O Athidi has a good underlying message but it works only in bits and pieces due to faulty execution. The better first half, pacy narration, and establishing a strong conflict point would make the film a better watch.

Did I Enjoy It?

Only Towards The End

Will You Recommend It?

Yes for a Digital Watch.. But Needs Lots of Patience

Anaganaga O Athidhi Review by Siddartha