Dwaraka Creations and PEN Studios’ Akhanda (dubbed from the Telugu film of the same name; UA) is the story of good versus evil.
A pair of twins is born to Ramachandra (Avinash) and Dharani (Viji Chandrasekhar) in a village. One of the two boys is still-born and so, the father hands him over to an Aghori Baba (Jagapathi Babu) who, in turn, gives him to another Aghori Baba. The latter leaves the child in a temple far away. The new-born comes alive in the temple and grows up there.
Here, Ramachandra’s kid grows up as Murali Krishna (Nandamuri Balakrishna). He has a helpful and loving nature. He gets married to Saranya (Pragya Jaiswal) who comes to the village as its Collector. Saranya and Murali Krishna have a daughter. Meanwhile, Naxalite Gajendra Sahu (Nithin Mehta) has become a pain for the villagers.
Saranya and Murali Krishna go after Varadaraja (Srikanth) because he is smuggling out uranium illegally. It turns out that Varadaraja and Gajendra Sahu are hand in glove. The uranium mining is causing kids to fall sick in the village.
Anyway, Murali Krishna is imprisoned while Saranya is suspended by vested interests. That’s when Murali Krishna’s twin brother, Akhanda (Nandamuri Balakrishna), arrives in the village. What happens thereafter?
Boyapati Srinu has penned such a long-drawn story that it loses steam midway. At least the Hindi film-going audience will not find the story interesting. His screenplay has so many twists and turns that it becomes clear to the audience that the drama is being stretched. The second half, especially, is quite boring. Dialogues (M. Ratnam) are so-so.
Nandamuri Balakrishna does well in a double role. However, the excitement of watching a film in which the hero plays a double role is absent. Pragya Jaiswal is good in the role of Collector Saranya. Nithin Mehta performs ably as Gajendra Sahu. Srikanth does a fine job as Varadaraja. Poorna leaves a mark as Padmavathi. Prabhakar is okay as DSP Ranjan. Jagapathi Babu has been wasted in the role of Aghori Baba. Avinash (as Ramachandra), Viji Chandrasekhar (as Dharani), Sharath Lohitashwa (as Krishna Acharya), Subharaju (as cabinet minister Bharath Reddy), Sravan (as Varadaraja’s younger brother) and Deshna Javaji (as Murali Krishna and Saranya’s little daughter) provide ordinary support.
Boyapati Srinu’s direction is fair but there isn’t much in the film for the Hindi film-going viewers. Thaman S.’s music is so-so. Kishan Paliwal’s lyrics are passable. Shankar and Bhanu’s choreography is quite nice. Camerawork (C. Ramprasad) is fair. Action and stunt scenes (by Laxman Chella, Ram Chella and Stunt Shiva) are thrilling. A.S. Prakash’s art direction is of a fine standard. Editing (by Kotagiri Venkateshwara Rao and Tammiraju) could’ve been sharper post-interval. Dubbing is alright.
On the whole, Akhanda has little to offer to the Hindi film audience and it will, therefore, go largely unnoticed.
Released on 20-1-’23 at Maratha Mandir (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay by PEN Marudhar Cine Entertainment. Publicity & opening: poor. …….Also released all over. Opening was weak everywhere.
