Atithi Devo Bhava (film)

Atithi Devo Bhava is a 2022 Indian Telugu-language romantic action film directed by debutant Polimera Nageshawar and produced by Srinivasa Cine Creations. The film stars Aadi Saikumar and Nuveksha with music composed by Shekar Chandra. The plot follows Abhay who has monophobia and his life takes a dramatic turn after meets his love interest. The film is released theatrically on 7 January 2022.

Plot
Abhi suffers from a problem called Mono Phobia. Because of this, he cannot survive alone and always expects someone to be on his side. In this process, he falls in love with Vaishnavi. When everything seems to be going fine, Abhi's phobia creates new misunderstandings in his love story.

Cast

 * Aadi Saikumar as Abhay "Abhi" Ram
 * Nuveksha as Vaishnavi
 * Aadarsh Balakrishna
 * Rohini as Abhi's mother
 * Raghu Karumanchi
 * Ravi Prakash
 * Naveena Reddy
 * Saptagiri

Production and release
The film marks the directorial debut of Polimera Nageshawar. Filming primarily took place around Hyderabad while the songs were shot in Darjeeling. Shekar Chandra composed the music while Karthika Srinivas and Amarnath Reddy performed the editing and cinematography respectively. Atithi Devo Bhava was released on 7 January 2022 ahead of the festival of Sankranti, following the postponement of major Telugu productions like RRR and Radhe Shyam. The film was released in Hindi on YouTube as Athidhi Devobhava on 16th December 2022 by Aditya Movies.

Soundtrack
The soundtrack album consists of four singles composed by Shekar Chandra, and released by Sony Music South.

Reception
A reviewer from The Hans India rated the film 1.5 stars of 5 and wrote, "Atithi Devo Bhava is a regular and outdated romantic family entertainer that lacks impactful narration and convincing screenplay. Though the lead actors gave a decent performance, the film struggles with loopholes like uneven narration and outdated treatment." Anji Shetty of Sakshi, who also rated the same, opined that the director had failed in execution despite having a novel idea.

A reviewer from Eenadu appreciated the storyline and score but criticized the screenplay. Surya Prakash of Asianet News felt the film lacked a thriller element which could keep the audience hooked to the story while the comedy and action sequences were poorly handled.