What happens when fantasy meets a poor script? The outcome is a visual treat that fails to appeal. Anaganaga O Dheerudu which is distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, is a mythological film aimed at children.
Sangarashtra is a teardrop shaped land which is under the tyranny of an evil witch named Irendri.(Lakshmi Manchu).
She terrorizes people in the village of Agartha and renders all the children lifeless. The only one who can save the children is a young girl called Moksha (Baby Harshita) who has healing powers.
| Producer | Prasad Devineni, Prasad Kovelamudi |
| Cast | Siddharth, Shruti Haassan, Lakshmi Manchu, Ravi Babu, Ramji, Baby Harshita |
| Director | Prakash Kovelamudi |
| Music | Salim Sulaiman, Koti, M.M Keeravani, Mickey J Meyer |
| Cinematography | Soundar Rajan |
| Editing | Shravan Katikaneni |
| Visual Effects | Firefly |
She lives in an ashram. When Druki(Ramji),an innocent villager from Agartha requests Moksha for help, she is accompanied by a blind swordsman Yodha (Siddharth) who’s job is to protect her.
Meanwhile Irendri lives on the blood of a gypsy woman called Priya (Shruti Haassan) who is her last descendant. She learns that Moksha’s blood when consumed during an eclipse will make her immortal. So she sends her men to capture Moksha.
Will Moksha be able to save the children? Will Yodha be able to protect Moksha from the clutches of Irendri? What is the connection between Priya and Yodha? This forms the rest of the plot.
Cinematography is excellent and the editing is crisp and apt. The sets are fantastic, the visual effects are great and the music gels well with the tone of the film. But all of this is unable to compensate for bad lip sync and a poor story. The casting could have been better. Dialogues seem to be good but there is scope for some improvement.
Performance wise, it is Lakshmi Manchu who steals the show. Siddharth as the blind warrior doesn’t seem to have worked too hard for his part. Shruti Hassaan provides the glam quotient.
She seems to be a promising performer. Baby Harshita is perfect as the innocent girl with magical powers. Good comedians like Brahmanandam and Ali are given minimal screen time and their talents have been underutilized.
The opening credits of the film create anticipation in the viewer’s mind but sadly the film doesn’t live up to the hype. Overall its worth a watch once for the sheer technical brilliance. A pongal treat for kids!
