Movie: Akhanda
Cast: Nandamuri Balakrishna, Pragya Jaiswal, JagapathiBabu, Srikanth
Director: Boyapati Srinu
Producer: Miryala Ravinder Reddy
Music Director: Thaman S
D.O.P: Ram Prasad
Art Director: AS Prakash
DI - Annapurna Studios
Colorist - Vishnu Vardhan

iQilik Movies Rating: 3/5

Nandamuri Balakrishna and Boyapati Srinu's combination delivered two blockbusters in the form of Simha and Legend. They have now come up together with their third film Akhanda to score a hat-trick. Akhanda has hit the screens today and here is the review of it.

Story:
Murali Krishna (Balakrishna) is a farmer who belongs to the Anantapur district. He motivates everyone in his area to take up farming by leaving factionalism. Sharanya (Pragya Jaiswal) gets appointed as the new collector of the district. Initially, she misunderstands Murali Krishna but eventually falls for him. Soon, they also get married. On the flip side, Varadarajulu (Srikanth) mines Uranium illegally in the same area.

This affects the health of the localities. When Murali Krishna confronts him, Varadarajulu gets the former arrested. When there was no one to handle Varadarajulu's atrocities, Akhanda (Balakrishna) entered. Who is Akhanda? What is his relationship with Murali Krishna? Did he stop Varadarajulu's atrocities? To know these answers, you have to watch the film.

Performances:
Balakrishna is the heart and soul of the film. There is no Akhanda if there is no Balayya. This is a template film that every Balayya fan likes. Director Boyapati knows how to satisfy Balayya's fans and he does it again with this movie. More than Murali Krishna's role, Balayya impresses us with Akhanda's character. He was phenomenal in the role of Aghora.

Pragya Jaiswal was good as Balayya's love interest. She looked pretty but there was not much scope for her character in the movie. Srikanth shined as the main villain. But more depth was needed for his character. Jagapathi Babu was usual. It is high time for him to stop doing such stereotypical roles. Rest others done their parts well.

Technical Aspects:
More than his story and direction, Boyapati impresses fans with his elevation scenes and dialogues. Every frame from the beginning to the end tries to elevate Balakrishna's character. Every fight looks like a climax or interval sequence.

Thaman's background score is the major highlight of the movie. He knows how to elevate mass heroes and he gave his best to Balayya. The cinematography was good and so are the production values. The editing could have been better.

Review:
Boyapati didn't depend on a novel story for this film. All he did is to fill up a routine story with whistle-worthy dialogues and elevation scenes. Mass audiences may enjoy these kinds of films but for normal audiences, it will end up as a messy affair. The first half was engaging enough with the entry of both the roles of Balayya.

But once the story is set, the second half is all about how Akhanda smashes the goons. There is no emotional quotient in the film. An emotional depth and novel writing would have made Akhanda a complete mass entertainer but it remains a routine mass affair. On the whole, Akhanda is a treat for fans and others can skip it.

Plus Points:
Performances
Balakrishna's Screen Presence
Fights
BGM

Minus Points:
Exaggerated Drama
Too much Violence

Final Verdict: Complete mass 'Fan'terntainment