ATHADEY MOVIE REVIEW

ATHADEY MOVIE REVIEW :

Athadey Synopsis: ‘Athadey’ is an experimental anthology of four stories dealing with love and redemption of different kinds.

Athadey Review: The film begins with the World of Shekhar, where Shekhar (Dulquer Salmaan in a funny hairdo) and Radhika (Sai Dhansika) are college students, and most importantly, disabled individuals. He stammers when he speaks, she’s visually challenged –none of this poses an issue to these two. But their families, especially Radhika’s brother (John Vijay), is none too happy about it. Bejoy plays around with the segment, keeping us guessing as to which scene is happening in which timeline. However, we never care enough about the character, not feeling as invested in the romance as we should be.

The second segment World of Trilok gives us a character who seems to be the protagonist. Justin (Anson Paul) helps cover up the accidental death of Aisha (Arti Venkatesh). But he finds himself hurt in an accident and saved by Trilok (Dulquer), who just happens to be the husband of Aisha. But then of course, there’s a twist, which turns the episode into a vigilante justice one. The minimalist world Bejoy creates and leisurely pacing don’t excite us much here too.

It’s the World of Shiva where things get interesting, winning us over with arresting visuals. Narrated as a gangster’s tale, Shiva (Dulquer, fantastically brooding) is the protagonist. His mother has left him and his brother is unable to bear their father’s abuse. Shiva grows up to be a gangster and when his father is murdered, he decides it’s his duty to extract revenge. He goes after the murderer, a don in Mumbai. This segment has other interesting characters like Shiva’s brother, who wants to follow in his footsteps, his wife (Shruti Hariharan) who hates his profession but cannot get herself to leave him, the paramour of a Mumbai gangster who takes pity on the younger brother and more. But, the impressive performances, moody visuals and confident narration still miss out on something. The story needed more building, but what we get resembles a bunch of scenes from a longer, wholesome movie.

The bull’s eye is finally hit in the World of Rudra. Rudra (Dulquer, all charm) is an army officer and in love with Bhama (Neha Sharma). Her father is a senior military officer who’s against the match, so they decide to stay apart for a while. But then Rudra learns that Bhama is about to marry someone else and he has to know why. The twist here works beautifully. And though some might find it unintentionally funny, it seems to have been Bejoy’s intent from the start. The clues lie hidden in the light-hearted tone in which the episode is staged. With a sleight of hand that is remarkable, we get a black comedy to savour.

On the whole, as a narrative experiment, Athadey is kind of underwhelming as it works only in parts, but there is quite a lot to savour — from the superb frames to the terrific music and the solid performances.

Music Review: Athadey

Dubbed version of the 2017 bi-lingual film Solo, starring Dulquer Salmaan,Dhanshika and Neha Sharma in lead roles, Athadey charts the journey of four men who represent the four elements of nature. Directed by Bejoy Nambiar, the jukebox of the film features six songs composed by various artists. 

The first song Vachadu Vachadu is composed by Sez on the Beat, penned by Bhaskar Bhatia and crooned by Chinna Ponnu, Ankur Enkor Johar, Raghav Jack and Sravana Bhargavi. Opening the album on a massy note, the tune and beats on this one is desi and catchy, till it turns into a rap. The massy bits of it have a lure that’s hard to get over. However, the two-minute long song seems to end even before you get into it, making it seem more like a background score than an actual song. Kannullo Nuvve, next on the album, is composed by Abhinav Bhansal, crooned by Anurag Kulkarni and penned by Bhaskar Bhatia. A romantic number, Abhinav’s music and Anurag’s vocals do a good enough job of elevating the number, while Bhaskar’s lyrics are plain okay. However, there’s really nothing much in this number that truly sets it apart from any other romantic number.

ADVERTISEMENTThird on the album is the upbeat Navvule Thene, composed by Agam, crooned by Sathya Shiva Kumar Dheenavahi and Varalakshmi Vigneshwarapu and penned by Bhaskar Bhatia. A mix of rock and old-school classical tunes, the number seems reminiscent of retro fusion music when the genre was made famous by Hariharan and Lesle Lewis. The vocals, music, lyrics, et al remain reminiscent of ‘Colonial Brothers’ despite the language. 

Masala Coffee’s Aamarrichettu crooned by Anurag Kulkarni and penned by Poorna Chari is also a number reminiscent of retro numbers. The two-minute long song is short and sweet to listen to with its classical touch. The lyrics, tune, vocals and music are catchy, offering a twist on numerous traditional numbers. Anurag Kulkarni does a stupendous job in this one. The super fun Roshomon Roshomon, composed by Prashanth Pillai, penned by Poorna Chari and crooned by Naresh Manindia and Sai Madhav is a song that just works in all ways. Be it the foot-tapping music, lyrics, tune or even the energetic vocals, this one’s a memorable one.

ADVERTISEMENTLast on the album is the brilliant Sita Kalyaname, a twist on the classical wedding song. Composed by Sooraj S Kurup, with lyrics by Poorna Chari and vocals by Sai Madhav, Lasya and Varalakshmi Vigneshwarapu, any classical enthusiast wouldn’t expect the number to work. However, the whole team does such a stupendous job of blending the modern and traditional so well. Haunting, yet beautiful, this one’s a winner. 

While the jukebox of Athadey starts out a bit weak, it picks up pace as the songs progress. Vachadu Vachadu and Kanullo Nuvve might not offer nothing much, but the rest of the album certainly deserves to be appreciated for trying. Sita Kalyaname and Roshomon Roshomon remain the clear winners of an album that’s good enough for a one-time listen. However, those who appreciate eccentric music might just end up falling in love with these two numbers.