Athidhi

Athidhi (meaning “The Guest”) is a 2007 Telugu romantic action thriller directed by Surender Reddy and produced by G. Ramesh Babu under Krishna Pictures (our record also lists UTV Motion Pictures). Mahesh Babu stars with Amrita Rao in her only Telugu film, and Murali Sharma and Ashish Vidyarthi; Mani Sharma composed the music. Released on 18 October 2007, it drew mixed reviews and, despite a wide release, was a box-office failure. Murali Sharma won the Nandi Award for Best Villain.

What the story is about

In Delhi, Athidhi walks out of prison and sets out to find Amrita, the childhood friend he lost years ago. Along the way he crosses paths with a college girl named Amrita who is being harassed by stalkers, and the two keep running into each other. She begins to fall for him, but before she can tell him she has to leave for Hyderabad, and Athidhi has troubles of his own: the gangsters whose operations he has disrupted are now after him. Who this Amrita really is, why Athidhi went to prison, and the shadowy killer Kaiser who links them are what the film unravels.

Cast

• Mahesh Babu as Athidhi
• Amrita Rao as Amrita
• Murali Sharma as Inspector Ajay Sastry
• Ashish Vidyarthi as Danny Bhai and Subbaraju as Ganni Bhai
• Kota Srinivasa Rao as MLA Maccha Srinu
• Nassar as Amrita’s uncle, the Home Minister, and Pragathi as her sister-in-law
• Brahmanandam as Shivram, Sunil as Amrita’s friend and Ravi Prakash as Athidhi’s friend
• Ajay, and Rajiv Kanakala as Amrita’s father (cameo)
• Malaika Arora Khan in the song “Rathraina”

Music

Mani Sharma composed the soundtrack, released by Aditya Music; his songs were among the film’s praised elements.

Release and box office

Athidhi was made on a budget reported by The Hindu Business Line as ₹20 crore. It ran 35 days in 400 cinemas, and both Tupaki and BollywoodLife count it among Mahesh Babu’s box-office failures. Tupaki reported in 2026 on plans for a 4K re-release with a reworked background score by Mani Sharma. The film was remade in Bangladesh as Durdhorsho Premik.

What critics said

Radhika Rajamani of Rediff.com found the “racy” screenplay gripping to an extent but said it “stretches to three long hours”. Jeevi of Idlebrain.com liked the first half but criticised the last thirty minutes. Reviewers praised the music and the performances of Mahesh Babu, Amrita Rao and Murali Sharma, but faulted the excessive violence and illogical scenes.

Where to watch Athidhi

We do not have a confirmed streaming platform for Athidhi on file. The OTT details on this page will be updated when a platform’s own listing confirms it.

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Athidhi and the reviews and reports it cites, linked above; Wikidata; our own cast and crew records.