Movie Name : Ghaati
Release Date : Sep 5, 2025
Cast : Anushka Shetty, Vikram Prabhu, Chaitanya Rao Madadi, Jagapathi Babu, etc.
Director : Krish Jagarlamudi
Music Director : Sagar Nagavelli
Telugumopo.com Rating : 2/5
Story:
Sheelavathi (Anushka) hails from a village on the Andhra–Odisha border, where most families work as cannabis laborers known as Ghaatis. She is named after the finest local cannabis strain, Sheelavathi.
Desiraju (Vikram Prabhu) is her closest companion, and their bond slowly blossoms into love. After an unexpected incident, the two decide to leave the risky world of cannabis behind—Sheelavathi becomes a bus conductor while Desiraju finds work as a lab technician.
Meanwhile, the illegal cannabis trade in the region is ruled with an iron fist by brothers Kaastala Naidu (Ravindra Vijay) and Kundula Naidu (Chaitanya Rao), who eliminate anyone standing in their way.
Fate soon forces Sheelavathi and Desiraju into direct conflict with these powerful men. What sparks this feud? How does it reshape their lives? And who survives this high-stakes battle is what the rest of the story reveals.
Review:
After a long break, Anushka Shetty returns to the big screen with Ghaati, a film that promised intensity and drama but ends up delivering a mixed experience. While her presence excites fans, the performance and characterisation don’t quite match the expectations set by her past roles. Anushka impresses in parts—particularly in the interval block and one major action sequence—but her look feels uneven and the emotional connect is largely missing.
On the other hand, Vikram Prabhu as Desiraju brings strong screen presence and shines until his role wraps up. Chaitanya Rao and Ravindra Vijay add menace as the antagonists, though Chaitanya’s performance occasionally feels overdone. Veteran actor Jagapathi Babu is wasted in a poorly written role that comes off as annoying.
The film’s biggest drawback lies in how Anushka’s character is handled. Instead of being the driving force of the narrative, her role feels pushed aside, leaving her fans disappointed. Attempts in the second half to elevate her arc into a heroic space fail due to the lack of emotional depth set up earlier.
Director Krish Jagarlamudi, known for crafting layered and emotionally rich stories, struggles to find his rhythm here. The film begins well, capturing curiosity with its focus on cannabis cultivation and the lives of the Ghaatis in the Western Ghats. However, after an engaging first half and a decent interval stretch, the story slips into predictable revenge-drama territory. The second half feels heavy, formulaic, and ends with a lackluster climax.
On the technical front, Sagar Nagavelli’s music is a letdown. The energetic title track works, but the rest of the songs fall flat. The background score hits the right notes at times but often feels too loud. Manojh Reddy Katasani’s cinematography stands out with some striking visuals of the Ghats, while production values remain solid throughout. Sai Madhav Burra’s dialogues have weight, and Chintakindi Srinivas Rao’s story had promise, but Krish’s loud and unfocused narration weakens the impact.
Ghaati offers the thrill of watching Anushka Shetty return to cinema and has a few engaging moments, but with weak characterisation, predictable writing, and uneven execution, it struggles to live up to expectations.
