Cast: Siddharth, Ileana, Suneel, Sayaji Shinde, Jayaprakash Reddy, Sharath Babu, Brahmanandam, Ravibabu, Anuradha, Munna, Uma Chowdary, Paruchuri Venkateswara Rao and Others
Director:V.N.Aditya
Producer:M.S.Raju
Music:Devisri Prasad
Art:Ashok
Cinematography:Chota K.Naidu
Dialogues:Paruchuri Brothers
Editing:K.V.Krishna Reddy
Lyrics:Sirivennela-Chandrabose
Story and Screenplay:M.S.Raju
Banner:Sumanth Art Productions
Release Date:May 9th, 2007
Old Wine, New Bottle!
M.S.Raju’s latest venture with Siddharth and Ileana, ‘Aata’ is directed by V.N.Aditya. With a dismal ‘Boss’ and a non-grosser ‘Pournami’ behind them, the producer-director team has not really hit bulls-eye with ‘Aata’ either. Read on.
Plot:
Sri Krishna (Siddharth) grows up watching movie after movie courtesy his father’s job in a theatre. He wants to be a real-life hero inspired by all the reel heroes he grows up idolizing and emulating. The home minister’s son Munna rapes and murders Jyoti and gets away with it, angering students and Jyoti’s friends, including Sathyavathi (Ileana).
Munna wants to take revenge and forcefully gets engaged to Sathya who runs away and is saved by Sri Krishna, who dutifully falls in love with her. Instead of taking her away to safety, he drops her at Munna’s home and becomes Munna’s confidante. His fight for his lady love and for Munna to be brought to justice is the rest of the plot.
Story, Screenplay and Direction:
There are too many borrowings. It seems Sri Krishna watched ‘Gudumba Shankar’, because the plot of ‘Aata’ is too similar to the former. The only new angle is that of the crime Munna commits. Scenes from ‘Yes Boss’ (Aziz Mirza-Shah Rukh Khan-Juhi Chawla) and from varied other movies are obviously lifted, and even some of the other scenes are reminiscent of lots of Telugu and Hindi movies.
The first half just fizzles away, with mediocre direction and just two songs that are the highlight. The second half picks up tempo and there is a lot of out-smarting the villain, which we’ve seen too many times before. This aspect is always fun, but there is no freshness. Suneel’s hotel adventure is funny. Brahmanandam’s track with Gundu Hanumantha Rao makes you wonder why they can’t pen anything new for the veteran comedian anymore. The songs are picturized and edited well. Artwork and photography fit the script. Lack of logic in some of the instances in the second half is tiring.
Performances:
Throughout, Siddharth’s energy keeps the movie afloat (yet it threatens to sink). He has become lean again, his comic timing is excellent and his dancing skills were never bad. Ileana matches his enthusiasm. The actor who plays Munna clearly cannot speak Telugu and someone’s dubbed for him, but though his look suits the character he portrays, it is a passable performance albeit convincing. Suneel’s acting generates many laughs.
Music and Dance:
Three of the songs - "Aata", "Hoyna" and "Kakinada Kaaja" are good. The others are average, and the editing in the songs is worth mentioning, especially the title number.
Last Words:
After all the hype, ‘Aata’ is a disappointment. Even though the second half is okay, overall there is too much Déjàvu in the movie. We’ve seen it all before and ‘Aata’ does not offer anything new. |  |
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