There are different ways to look at the Telugu film Aadikeshava, directed by Srikanth N Reddy and starring Panja Vaisshnav Tej, Sreeleela and Joju George. One would be to categorise it as a 1990s and 2000s style Rayalaseema revenge action family drama. Another would be to wonder if the makers intended to deliver a mass action drama or a film that is partly mass and partly a spoof of several mainstream tropes. Some portions play out like a hat tip to Boyapati Sreenu’s style of mass masala, other portions are funny — intentionally and unintentionally.
The urban romance and family dynamics in the initial segments unfold in a familiar mainstream manner. Balu or Bala Kotaiah (Vaisshnav Tej) lazes around and is doted on by his mother (Radhika Sarathkumar). His father, Sundar Ramamurthy (Nagineedu), asks him to get a job and share the financial responsibilities. The father supposedly earns ₹70,000 per month but the family lives in a bungalow. Maybe the house is an official perk since he works in the excise department. Or perhaps someone from Rayalaseema has been funding them all along, which is a possibility, considering the twist comes at the midpoint. Anyway, the makers do not want us to think much.
Aadikeshava (Telugu)
The rapport between the mother and son begins on a cliched note, until the father comments that it resembles a television soap. This is a small example of how the director intends to make fun of staid tropes. But that doesn’t prevent him from exploring other repetitive mainstream tropes.
The heroine, Chitra (Sreeleela) is introduced as a large-hearted young woman who brings cheer to children who are terminally ill. Since she is the CEO of a company, she also writes off a generous cheque. We do not know what her company specialises in, but it could be FMCG since she tests the marketing skills of the hero by asking him to sell her a skincare product. Since it is Sreeleela playing the altruistic heroine, she gets ample scope to showcase her impeccable dancing skills.
The office sequences involving Balu and Chitra are typically fimi. If only being slightly woke was considered good enough to land a job that can fetch a lakh a month. There is a faint hangover of Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo in the manner in which Balu courts his ‘madam’, Chitra, punctuated by a couple of songs composed by GV Prakash Kumar.
We get signs of what is to follow through Balu’s chance, a short meeting with a kind-hearted MLA (Suman). But we don’t take it seriously because it is tough to take anything seriously in the film.
The intermission point shifts the gears of the film from an urban Trivikram-style drama to a Boyapati mass action film in Rayalaseema. We know that the worlds of Balu and Chenga Reddy (Joju George) will cross paths; the manner in which they cross is like a 1990s and 2000s style revenge drama.
Aadikeshava then involves plenty of bloodshed, setting people on fire and heads rolling. Issues of child labour, education, domestic violence and women empowerment are taken up. The next hour is dedicated to showcasing the leading man as a mass hero. He also gets a new name — Rudra Kaleshwar Reddy. A Shiva temple and the politics around it also plays a part in the story.
Tanikella Bharani, Sadaa and several others come and go without making any impact, and it is not their fault. The one who looks the most lost with the one-note character is Malayalam actor Joju George. When the narrative has to desperately prop up a staid revenge drama, it references the Ramayana.
Vaisshnav Tej tries, in vain, to fit the bill of a mass hero. Sreeleela’s dancing skills cannot save the boredom in this film. There is a sliver of hope when she declares that she makes the choices, be it at work or with the choice of her life partner. Later, however, she is a bystander to the happenings in Rayalaseema whose primary purpose is to dance for a pre-climax mass number.
The good thing about Aadikeshava is, it is only 129 minutes long. Oh, there is also a twist towards the end that made me wonder if the joke was on us, the audience.
