Athade Srimannarayana

Story: A treasure goes missing. A feudal lord dies, leaving his step-sons warring over his throne and struggling to fulfill his last wish. A quirky cop finds himself in midst of the ongoing chaos fifteen years later. Will the treasure recover and who will rein supreme?

Review: The trailer of Athade Srimannarayana set the tone for what one should expect from the film. There's a fantasy land where feudal lords, cowboy inspired bars and a cop with traces of Jack Sparrow co-exist. While the film has all this and more, the run-time might seem a tad bit long. It is probably not best to expect authenticity seeing as how the film is set. However, the story is like an intriguing jigsaw puzzle with the protagonist ensuring you are constantly glued to the screen.

The film hints at some of the cinematic greats from the West, specially Quentin Tarantino who excels at the genre. The quirky tale brings fantasy alive on-screen, a genre rarely explored by filmmakers here. The protagonist Narayana (Rakshit Shetty) has the adventure streak of Indiana Jones, invincibility of Chuck Norris, flair of Jack Sparrow and the swagger of Wild West heroes. This ensures both witticism and wisdom with Achyuth making a perfect sidekick.

What's a fantasy tale without good antagonists and this film has two of them! The leading lady is more than just a glam babe, giving Lakshmi some interesting hues to root for. Add to this a riddle, the pursuit of a missing treasure and a bunch of boisterous drama actors, it's quite a scream.

Athade Srimannarayana scored with its performances, primarily Rakshit Shetty, Balaji Maohar, Achyuth Kumar, Pramod Shetty and Shanvi Srivastava. The cinematography, sets and background score elevate the tale. The narrative however tends to become a little too self-indulgent and the story could have been shorter for a better impact. The film is for those who like cinema to be a wholesome, intelligent exercise. There are a lot of guns blazing and a maverick protagonist ready to welcome those who opt to watch the film.