Akaasaveedhilo Review

Once upon a time there was a king who had three wives and four sons. The eldest son, the crown prince, was really popular. But the mother of the second couldn't stand her son losing out on the throne, and forced the king to send the eldest and his wife to exile. In the forests the couple met five brothers and their wife, who were also in exile. These five were tricked by their cousins, a whole 100 of them, into it, and were biding their time before they could get even. One day the five brothers saw a star shining brightly, and following it they reached a village in what is now West Asia, and witnessed a child being born to a virgin in a shack. This child became one of the nicest men ever, and some powerful people who couldn't stand his popularity tortured him to death.

Yes, yes, what has all that go to do with Akaasaveedhilo. Just a few things. Firstly, we wanted this review to be like the film - so we have created the first part to have nothing to do with the rest. Secondly, we wanted to give you an idea of how the tale of Akaasaveedhilo progresses. That's how much continuity there is. Thirdly, we wanted to provide some perspective. That paragraph above has much more imagination than this tale has.

Which is this. Chandrasekhar (Nagarjuna) is an ace pilot at a flying club in Delhi, and is the best of buddies with Suri (Rajendra Prasad). Suri's ladylove Padma is likewise with Indu (Raveena Tandon). Indu joins up the flying club to learn, and yes, the instructor is the mensch himself. She can't stand this taunting dude, and even slaps him once. Our man decides to get even, and the next lesson for her he decides will end only when she apologizes. Nope, lady won't, and flights don't go on forever unattended, so they end up in a heap about 500km from Delhi (which somehow looks like Canada).

Without the two humans in it, this would have been the best part of the film. The locales are quite picturesque. But you have to live with a constantly grinning Chandu (someone thought Nagarjuna looked one macho dude doing it, we're sure) and a very immature Indu. There's a bear chasing them, and doesn't quite get to them, which, in retrospect, feels like such a pity. The film would have ended when the going was still good.

The animosity between the pair has no reflection in the songs, which bore you at regular intervals and have the two all over each other. Anyway, they are at it at being lost in the beautiful hills until they fall in love (in an extremely unconvincing way), and then they get rescued. And so do you, even though only for a while - it's interval.

Then it's wedding bells, and time for the film to turn over a completely new leaf. Chandu and Indu get married, and so do their respective best friends, and they are now in different cities (Chandu, now in the IAF, gets posted in Hyderabad). Now Indu has a nasty accident, and the result is that she can't be a mother ever again. Padma on the other hand has twins, and the great pals that they are, donates the elder one to Chandu and Indu.

The kids grow up to be something like 6, and then it transpires that the son of Suri and Padma has acute leukemia, which can only be cured by a bone marrow transplant from a sibling. While Chandu is all for it, Indu, maniacally in love with her son, won't hear of it even if it's a low-risk operation, and dashes off to Delhi with her kid. But there the good son causes her to have a change of heart, and she's back on the flight to Hyderabad the next morning.

It's time now for the film to turn over a completely new leaf all over again. The flight is hijacked by some Kashmir militants, and the only man who can save the world is you-know-who. You get to see a précis of several Hollywood flicks in the climax as he does it, and the movie ends on a happy note, for everyone.

This film was made by Usha Kiron Movies, directed by Singeetham Srinivasa Rao, scored for by Keeravani, and has Nagarjuna in the lead and talented actors in all supporting roles. It must have taken a real effort to make it like it has turned out.

Nagarjuna appears constantly amused in the first half, and doesn't have to do much in the second. His fans have their work cut out taking this one to even 50 days. Raveena does what she is told to do, and you feel sorry for her for that - she looks good, though. Rajendra Prasad is good as usual, and the comedy track, done by Kota and Sudhakar, manages to draw some smiles. The kid, Teja, is definitely a relative of one of the filmmakers. You know because he can't act. The bear gets the most dignified role in the film, and essays it with justifiable élan.

The music by Keeravani is average - the title song and "Emi Stroke Ichchavu Guru" are rather popular. Like we said, the best part is the locations in the first half, and that's not the greatest thing you could have possibly said.

The nice man of the first para did not have a choice in his torture, but you do.