Akhanda 2: Thaandavam Review

Nandamuri Balakrishna & Boyapati Sreenu’s combination is the go-to for blockbuster films. They together delivered three successful films(i.e. Simha, Legend and Akhanda) in the past. The first film in the Akhanda franchise was released right after the COVID-19 second wave and went on to become a huge blockbuster at the box office. Thaman’s background score for Akhanda was a sensation back in 2021. After four years of such a resounding success, Nandamuri Balakrishna, Boyapati Sreenu and Thaman teamed up yet again for a sequel to Akhanda with the title ‘Akhanda 2: Thaandavam’. The film was supposed to be released in theatres on 05th December but at the last moment, financial troubles delayed its release by a week. After sorting out all the financial roadblocks, the makers finally released the film in theatres today. Did Nandamuri Balakrishna & Boyapati Sreenu, score the fourth hit in their combination? Did Thaman score his fifth hit in a row with Nandamuri Balakrishna, after Akhanda, Veera Simha Reddy, Bhagavanth Kesari and Daaku Maharaaj? Did the actress, Samyuktha, get back on the success track after a hiccup in Telugu with ‘Devil: The British Secret Agent’, in 2024? Did the film give a memorable success to Ram Achanta, Gopi Achanta and let them forget all the troubles they faced in the last week or so? More importantly, did Akhanda continue the recent sentiment of sequel films doing wonders at the box office? Let’s figure it out with a detailed analysis.

What is it about?

The little girl, Janani(Harshaali Malhotra) in the film is now an eighteen-year-old girl and a scientist who along with her works on ‘Bio-Shield’, a weapon to protect the Indian Army from nature while performing their duties. What were the challenges she faced while doing her research? Why did the DRDO(The Defence Research and Development Organisation), India, ask Janani and team to develop an antidote for a deadly virus? How did Akhanda Rudra Sikandar Aghora(Nandamuri Balakrishna) help Janani and the team in developing the antidote? Forms the rest of the story.

Performances:

Nandamuri Balakrishna as Akhanda Rudra Sikandar Aghora, delivered a very good performance. His dialogue delivery is first-rate as always. The way he uttered the dialogues about Sanātana Dharma, lord Shiva & the greatness of Bharat, will be liked immensely by his fans. He looked majestic and did well in the role of Bala Murali Krishna, as well.

Harshaali Malhotra is miscast for the role of Janani. An actress with a relatable face may have created a better impact for the crucial role. Samyuktha and Aadhi Pinisetty’s roles were written and executed poorly and their performances were just ok. The film had at least ten other actors and all of them delivered over-the-top performances in typical Boyapati style.

Technicalities:

Thaman failed to come up with the magic he created with the first part. His background score for Akhanda 2 is too loud and the songs also did not work. Cinematography by Ram Prasad & Santosh Detake was pretty standard. They were able to capture the picturesque locales of Ladakh well. It seemed most of the film was shot on a green mat and it was very evident.

There’s not much the editor, Tammiraju, can do with poorly directed footage. It seemed like he just edited the film as per the wishes of his director. Action choreography defied all the science and logic. The stunt masters used almost every available over-the-top approach to show the lead character as a superhuman human and it looked so artificial in most parts. The producers seemed to have provided all the resources the director asked for but all of it went in vain.

Positives:

1.⁠ ⁠NBK’s Performance
2.⁠ ⁠Opening & Pre-Interval Sequences

Negatives:

1.⁠ ⁠Cringeworthy Writing
2.⁠ ⁠Pointless Direction
3.⁠ ⁠Lack of Emotional Depth
4.⁠ ⁠Over the Top Action Episodes
5.⁠ ⁠Loud Background Score
6.⁠ ⁠Samyuktha & Aadhi Pinisetty’s Roles
7.⁠ ⁠Miscasting For Janani’s Role

Analysis:

Nandamuri Balakrishna and Boyapati Srinu delivered three blockbuster movies (i.e. Simha, Legend and Akhanda) in the past. Out of the three films, Akhanda, is arguably the weakest film. It had decent content but it went on to become a huge blockbuster because of various external factors. It was the first big mass commercial film after a gap of around eleven months and it was released after two waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. The need for the people to go out and socialise, along with the devotional factor in the film worked in favour of it but as a film, it was the weakest of the three films in the hero and the director combination. Boyapati Srinu should have considered himself lucky and should have considered doing another film with a new subject with Balakrishna but it seems like he blindly believed that Akhanda became a hit only because of its content. Unfortunately, that blind belief misfired big time in the sequel, Akhanda 2: Thaandavam. It is what success does with people. Success more often than not forces people to concentrate only on the positives and ignore the negatives.

Akhanda 2: Thaandavam is a continuation of the first part. The little girl in the film is now an eighteen-year-old girl and a scientist who along with her colleagues, works on ‘Bio-Shield’, a weapon to protect the Indian Army from nature while performing their duties. By reading the aforementioned write-up, you may have understood that the girl’s character is crucial in the film, right? So, the bare minimum thing that a director has to do is to select a relatable actor who can also act well to play that character, isn’t it? Boyapati’s one of the biggest mistakes is the selection of the actress to perform such a crucial role. Harshaali Malhotra played the role and she is without a doubt miscast in the role. Another big mistake by Boyapati is that he blindly believed that people would watch whatever he serves in the name of god, divinity and patriotism, without a proper story and emotional depth.

The entire drama around China’s military, virus, and antidote is laughable to say the least. We know we should not think about logic to enjoy Boyapati’s movies and even if you step into the theatre with an open mind, the movie still baffles you with gravity-defying action sequences where NBK fights with goons, soldiers evils, robots and whatnot. There’s no story whatsoever in the film. It is an out-and-out attempt to cash in on the success of the brand ‘Akhanda’. It is shocking to see not even a single sequence throughout the film which has emotional depth. The first half of the film was at least watchable with a good opening sequence and a well-executed interval block. But, the director completely lost track in the second half with never-ending action blocks one after the other and lengthy & preachy dialogues about god, Sanātana Dharma and patriotism.

‘Their flag is smiling. We should make it cry’, ‘I’m not a layout, I blowout’, ‘You destroyed my destiny’, ‘How dare you to disturb my god’s order’, ‘Where there is bad, there is god to stand against it. Be brave’, ‘You and me may sound the same but both are not the same’, ‘How dare you touch my country’ – These are not the English translation of the Telugu dialogues in the film. The lines were used as it is in English and it sounded so silly and cringeworthy when the characters in the film uttered those dialogues. The writing for the characters played by Samyuktha and Aadhi Pinisetty, was so poor. Imagine one of the senior-most female scientists in the country, in the middle of a very important project, going to a village to celebrate one of her intern’s birthday, only to end up flirting with the intern’s father and dancing to an item song? Yes, the above sequence is there in the film and it looked so weird and was executed poorly.

Overall, after a watchable first half, the film completely lost track in the second half. NBK did his best & the producers seemed to have provided all the resources but the uninspiring & clueless execution from Boyapati Srinu made Akhanda 2, a wasted opportunity. Right from the very first sequence, it appeared as if like a desperate attempt to make money using the success of the first part but it ended up becoming a cringeworthy sequel with pointless execution. After three back-to-back successful films, Nandamuri Balakrishna and Boyapati Srinu came up with a damp squib. A disappointing film to say the least.

Akhanda 2 – Emotionless ‘Divinity’

Rating – 2.25/5

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