Athadu
| Athadu | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Trivikram Srinivas |
| Written by | Trivikram Srinivas |
| Produced by | Duggirala Kishore M. Ram Mohan |
| Starring | Mahesh Babu Trisha Prakash Raj Sonu Sood |
| Cinematography | K. V. Guhan |
| Edited by | A. Sreekar Prasad |
| Music by | Mani Sharma |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Jayabheri Arts |
Release date |
|
Running time | 172 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Telugu |
| Budget | ₹12–13 crore |
| Box office | ₹22 crore share worldwide (₹18.6 crore Andhra Pradesh + overseas) |
Athadu (transl. Him) is a 2005 Indian Telugu-language action thriller film written and directed by Trivikram Srinivas and produced by Jayabheri Arts. The film stars Mahesh Babu as a hitman hired to stage the assassination of a politician, only to be framed for the actual murder, forcing him to assume a new identity while evading the law. The supporting cast includes Trisha, Sonu Sood, Prakash Raj, Nassar, Sunil, Sayaji Shinde, Kota Srinivasa Rao and Brahmanandam. The music was composed by Mani Sharma, while K. V. Guhan handled the cinematography.
Athadu was released on 10 August 2005 and received critical acclaim from critics and audiences and emerged as one of the highest-grossing Telugu films of the year collecting a distributor's share of approximately ₹22 crore (US$2.6 million) in its total run. It won three Nandi Awards and a Filmfare Award South for Best Director – Telugu. Over time, Athadu gained recognition as a modern classic in Telugu cinema and holds the record for being the most telecast Telugu film, having aired over a thousand times on television. The film was remade in Hindi as Ek: The Power of One (2009) and in Bengali as Wanted (2010).