There are different ways to look at the Telugu film Aadikeshava, directed by Srikanth N Reddy and starring Panja Vaisshnav Tej, Sreeleela and Joju George. One would be to categorise it as a 1990s and 2000s style Rayalaseema revenge action family drama. Another would be to wonder if the makers intended to deliver a mass action drama or a film that is partly mass and partly a spoof of several mainstream tropes. Some portions play out like a hat tip to Boyapati Sreenu’s style of mass masala, other portions are funny — intentionally and unintentionally.
The urban romance and family dynamics in the initial segments unfold in a familiar mainstream manner. Balu or Bala Kotaiah (Vaisshnav Tej) lazes around and is doted on by his mother (Radhika Sarathkumar). His father, Sundar Ramamurthy (Nagineedu), asks him to get a job and share the financial responsibilities. The father supposedly earns ₹70,000 per month but the family lives in a bungalow. Maybe the house is an official perk since he works in the excise department. Or perhaps someone from Rayalaseema has been funding them all along, which is a possibility, considering the twist comes at the midpoint. Anyway, the makers do not want us to think much.
