Akhanda

Akhanda is a 2021 Indian Telugu-language action drama film[6] written and directed by Boyapati Srinu. Produced by Dwaraka Creations, the film stars Nandamuri Balakrishna in a dual role alongside Pragya Jaiswal, Jagapathi Babu and Srikanth. The soundtrack album and the film score is composed by S. Thaman.

Akhanda
Theatrical release poster
Directed byBoyapati Srinu
Written byBoyapati Srinu
M. Ratnam (dialogues)
Produced byMiryala Ravinder Reddy
Starring
CinematographyC. Ram Prasad
Edited byKotagiri Venkateshwara Rao–Tammiraju
Music byS. Thaman
Production
company
Dwaraka Creations
Release date
  • 2 December 2021 (2021-12-02)
Running time
168 minutes[1]
CountryIndia
LanguageTelugu
Budget₹60–70 crore[lower-alpha 1]
Box officeest. ₹105.8 crore[5]

Released on 2 December 2021, the film opened to mixed reviews with praise for Balakrishna's performance as Aghora but criticism for the storyline.[7] The film was, however, commercially successful grossing over ₹100 crore at the box office.[8]

Plot

Gajendra, a wanted bandit is on search by the police who fail to capture him despite their brave efforts. During the fight between Gajendra's men and the police, Gajendra gets wounded through his own ammunition and is thrown into the water. He manages to find shelter in a temple under the guidance of a guru. Gajendra murders the guru and becomes the temple priest. Gajendra, now a powerful gang lord, manages large-scale organized crime, and illegal mining in the state.

Meanwhile two male twins are born in the house of a wealthy influential family. Out of the two children one of them is born alive and the other is assumed to have a still-birth. Suddenly an Aghora comes while the mother is asleep and says to the father that the still-born child has a non-peaceful destiny that leads to destruction of all evil, that matches with that of Lord Shiva. So the father then hands over the still-born child to the Aghora. The Aghora drops the child into the bag of another Aghora while he is meditating and quickly walks away. Now the child, who is placed in the temple of Lord Shiva, comes to life after a drop of holy water from the oscillating gopuram falls on the child's forehead, and the child is then raised up under the protection of the Aghoras and eventually grows up under the aegis of Lord Shiva. The other child grows up as Murali Krishna.

Murali Krishna is now a respected leader of Anantapur district who is revered by all his people as he fights for them if injustice shadows them. Saranya is a newly appointed district collector and falls for Murali Krishna after learning about his dedication and commitment to the society. They get married and bear a daughter who eventually falls sick. It is revealed that almost all the children of the district suffer from the same unknown illness. After a thorough investigation, by Saranya's colleague, Padmavati, it is revealed that the illness is due to the rich deposits of uranium that are being illegally mined instead of copper by Varadarajulu and his men who are associates to Gajendra. It is also revealed that Varadarajulu is a merciless brute who tortures the mine-workers and their families and has contacts with the corrupt local DSP and other corrupt government officials. After knowing this, Murali Krishna confronts Varadarajulu and his men and vows to wipe them out and save the city. As Varadarajulu approaches Gajendra, he devises a plan and sets up bombs inside the hospital owned by Murali. The blast kills many people in Murali Krishna's hospital,including a cabinet minister,his aide.He is arrested by the NIA on the charge of assassinating the minister. Meanwhile the goons of Varadarajulu chase down Saranya and her daughter to kill them and wipe their family out. Saranya flees with her sick daughter into an ancient cave which houses an old temple of Lord Shiva and comes upon Akhanda,the still born who was separated from Murali Krishna. He is now an Aghora,with super natural powers deriving from Lord Shiva. Akhanda, being a manifestation of Rudra, annihilates the goons and protects Saranya and her daughter.

Hearing this, Gajendra and Varadarajulu are both shocked and they get the DSP and his men to capture Saranya and her daughter along with the rest of the family to kill them but to their surprise Akhanda shows up and kills all of the officers except for the DSP. Akhanda then interrupts Gajendra's ritual by killing the DSP in front of him and then gives him a warning. Gajendra takes the help of an evil Kapalik tantrik to kill Akhanda. At the same time, Akhanda finds Padmavati at the bottom of a river and brings her back to life and finds out through his yogic powers that Varadarajulu and Gajendra had found out that she wanted to expose their illegal activities and they had attempted to kill her and eventually threw her into the river. After seeing all of this through his mystic vision, Akhanda goes to the mines and kills Varadarajulu and his men and when the NIA officer questions him he says that anyone who disturbs the very balance of nature needs to be eradicate a brutal criminal like him and walks away. Meanwhile NIA also learns that Murali is innocent and they release him from custody.

Gajendra and the tantrik devise a trap and place a cursed death spell upon Saranya's daughter knowing that Akhanda will surely go to Kasi and perform the Mrityunjay puja to free the child and bring her back to life, thereby they could kill Akhanda when he's performing the puja. Akhanda starts the ritual and Gajendra and his men interrupt by throwing weapons to his back. Akhanda bears the pain and finishes the ritual successfully. Saranya's daughter is brought back to life. Now that the ritual is over, Lord Shiva enters into Akhanda and thereby Akhanda manifests with mighty powers from Shiva and wreaks a havoc upon Gajendra and his men. Murali Krishna comes and joins Akanda at the nick of his fight. Akhanda destroys and kills Gajendra and his men, including the evil tantrik. Murali unites with his family and Saranya's daughter asks Akhanda to stay with their family but he states that he can not do so but he blesses the child and leaves away stating that he cannot have ties to the family but will return whenever anyone is in trouble.

Cast

Production

Development

The film marks the third collaboration of lead actor (Balakrishna) and the director (Boyapati Srinu) after Simha (2010) and Legend (2014).[10] It was formally launched a private event held at Hyderabad in early-December 2019.[11] The film was tentatively called under the titles BB3 and NBK106. In April 2021, the film's official title was unveiled as Akhanda.[12]

Cast and crew

Sayyeshaa was cast for the film for an undisclosed role in November 2020.[13] Later, she left the project for unknown reason. It was also reported that Anjali will be part of the film.[14] In March 2021, it was also reported that the action director duo Ram-Laxman has left the film after working for few action scenes. They were later replaced by Stun Shiva.[15] Speaking to the media, in December 2021, Siva told that "I allocated 80 days for 'Akhanda'. Of them, up to 65 days went into mounting action sequences. The rest of the days went into discussing with the director how to elevate the scenes. Ever since the director narrated the story, I started thinking about how to make the fights novel".[16][17] Initially Prayaga Martin was cast for the lead actress role. Few scenes were also shot featuring her, but was later replaced by Pragya Jaiswal.[18] Pragya was cast in November 2020 after which she joined the production in December 2020. She was part of a 33-day first schedule shot at Hyderabad, Tamil Nadu and Goa.[19] In an interview with The Times of India, she said that "I had to join the film sets as soon as I was roped in, so my prep time was very little. It took me a while to transform myself into the character, and that happened on the sets of 'Akhanda'. I had taken a few references from the real-life lady cops and noted every detail related to their dressing, mannerisms, and small-big details".[20] Stylist and costume designer Raamz has been roped for designing costumes in the film. Speaking to Neeshita Nyayapati about designing costumes for Balakrishna's dual characters, he told that "Given Balakrishna’s larger-than-life persona, I wanted to create looks that would remain memorable for years to come. Boyapati garu (the film’s director) gave his inputs as well and we put in a lot of effort to choose specific fabrics for his look. We also designed his tattoos and the Shiva Lingam locket that he uses in fight scenes".[21]

Filming
Arunachalesvara Temple, where climax scenes were shot

Principal photography of the film began in March 2020.[22] After pausing the filming due to COVID-19 pandemic in India,[23] final schedule of the film was resumed in July 2021 at Hyderabad.[24] Few scenes of the film were shot at Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management, Hyderabad Campus. Filming of climax scenes of the film began in end-July 2021 at Tamil Nadu. Most of the action scenes were features Balakrishna and Srikanth.[25] These action scenes were choreographed by Shiva. It was reported that the scenes were shot at Arunachalesvara Temple of Tiruvannamalai in the Tiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu.[26][27] As part of the final schedule, the team next headed to Goa in September 2021 to shoot songs of the film.[28][29] Filming was wrapped up in October 2021.[30]

Music
Akhanda
Soundtrack album by
S. Thaman
Released9 December 2021 (2021-12-09)
Recorded2020-2021
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length17:06
LanguageTelugu
LabelLahari Music
ProducerS. Thaman
S. Thaman chronology
Enemy
(2021)		 Akhanda
(2021)		 Ghani
(2021)
Singles from Akhanda
  1. "Adigaa Adigaa"
    Released: 18 September 2021
  2. "Akhanda Title Song"
    Released: 8 November 2021
  3. "Jai Balayya"
    Released: 27 November 2021

The film score and soundtrack album of the film is composed by S. Thaman. The first single from the soundtrack, "Adigaa Adigaa" was released on 18 September 2021.[31] The second single "Akhanda Title Song" was released on 8 November 2021.[32] The last single of the album "Jai Balayya" was released on 27 November 2021, during the pre-release event of the film held at Hyderabad.[33] The music rights were acquired by Lahari Music.

No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Adigaa Adigaa"Kalyan ChakravarthyS. P. Charan, ML Shruti4:42
2."Akhanda Title Song"Ananta SriramShankar Mahadevan, Siddharth Mahadevan, Shivam Mahadevan, Geetha Madhuri4:44
3."Jai Balayya"Ananta SriramGeetha Madhuri, Sahithi Chaganti, Satya Yamini, Aditi Bhavaraju4:24
4."Amma Song"Kalyan ChakravarthyMohana Bhogaraju3:16
Total length:17:06

Release

Theatrical

The film was initially planned to be released on 28 May 2021.[34] But due to delay in the production work which was effected by the COVID-19 pandemic in India, the release of the film was also delayed.[35]

Distribution

Akhanda's worldwide theatrical distribution rights were sold for ₹54 crore.[36][37] The area-wise distributors of the film are: Sri Venkateswara Creations (Nizam and Uttarandhra), Padmakar Cinemas (Guntur), Vaaraahi Chalana Chitram (Ceded), LVR (East Godavari), Vintage Creations (West Godavari), Kumar (Krishna) and Pride Cinemas (overseas).[38] In early-December 2021, News18 reported that the Hindi dubbing rights of the film were sold at a cost of ₹20 crore.[39]

Home media

Digital distribution rights of the film were acquired by Disney+ Hotstar for ₹15 crore.[40][41][42] Satellite rights of the film were purchased by Star Maa.

Reception

Critical response

A reviewer from The Hans India rated 3 out of 5 stars, and called it Balakrishna's "one man show," adding "Living up to the expectations, Akhanda also showers a mass treat on the fans. The film is impressive in the way it was made." However, the reviewer was critical of predictable plot and screenplay.[43] 123telugu.com rated the film 3.25 out of 5 stars and stated, "Akhanda is a feast for hardcore fans and Balayya gives them ample moments to cherish with his stunning act."[44]

Writing for The Times of India, Neeshita Nyayapati wrote, "While the basic premise of Akhanda is interesting, especially the way Boyapati sets it up by weaving a historical story with mass moments in a way only he can, he soon loses the plot (literally) and gets carried away with giving Akhanda and Murali mass moments that are sure to elicit whistles but don’t do anything for the story."[45] In her review for The Hindu, Sangeetha Devi Dundoo also echoes the same. "The film gets tiresome post intermission and the incessantly high voltage background score doesn’t help either," she added.[46]

The Indian Express critic Manoj Kumar R said that the film was "an assault on the senses." Kumar was critical of Boyapati's usage of spirituality to provide a moral justification for the character to slaughter people with impunity while trying to appear as pro-progress and pro-rational.[47] In an other negative review, Ram Venkat Srikar of Cinema Express, wrote: "Akhanda is a quintessential Boyapati Sreenu outing where logic dies a brutal death even before the title appears and the audience die a slow death for the next 167 minutes." [48]

Box office

Akhanda collected a share collection of ₹15.39 crore and gross collection of ₹23 crore in the Telugu states on its opening day.[49][50] Whereas, it has collected a gross collection of ₹29.60 crore worldwide on its opening day.[51] The film collected a gross collection of ₹44 crore, by second day of its release.[52] At the United States box office, it has collected of more than $500,000 in two days of it's release.[53][54] By the third day of the film's release, it had collected a share collection of ₹35.40 crore and gross collection of ₹56.90 crore worldwide. At the international box office, the film has collected a share collection of ₹3.55 crore[55] After four days of it's release, the film has collected a share collection of ₹37.56 and a gross collection ₹59.10 crore in the Telugu states. At the global box office, it has collected a share collection of ₹44.86 and a gross collection ₹74.[56] In the same period, the film has collected a gross collection of more than $800K at the United States box office.[57] In the first four days of release, it has collected a gross of over ₹12.05 crore in the Nizam region.[58]

By the end of first week, the film grossed ₹87.9 crore worldwide, amassing distributor's a share of ₹53.59 crore.[59] In the same period it has collected a gross of ₹10.08 crore outside India. The territory wise gross collections are: ₹6.68 crore (United States), ₹1.26 crore (Australia), ₹0.72 crore (United Kingdom), ₹0.15 crore (Rest of Europe), ₹0.80 crore (Gulf), ₹0.25 crore (Canada), ₹0.13 crore (Singapore), ₹0.04 crore (Malaysia) and ₹0.05 crore (South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania and Japan combined).[60] The film grossed ₹100 crore worldwide in 11 days.[8]

Notes
  1. While The Hans India estimates the budget as 60 crore,[2] The News Minute and Sakshi Post report it as 70 crore.[3][4]

References
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  2. Vyas (10 November 2020). "High budget for Balayya and Boyapati's movie?". The Hans India.
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  4. "Akhanda Day 3 Collections: Nandamuri Balakrishna Unstoppable at Box Office". Sakshi Post. 5 December 2021.
  5. "Akhanda 11వ రోజు లెక్కలివే.. బాలయ్యది మామూలు ఊచకోత కాదు!". Samayam Telugu (in Telugu). 13 December 2021.
  6. "Akhanda". British Board of Film Classification. AKHANDA is a Telugu language action drama in which a rural community comes under threat from a villainous gang.
  7. "'Akhanda' Box Office collection: Nandamuri Balakrishna's film collects Rs.20.8 cr on the release day! - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
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  9. "Akhanda child artist: 'అఖండ' సినిమాలో బాలయ్య కూతురుగా నటించిన ఈ చిన్నారి బ్యాగ్రౌండ్ తెలుసా..?". News18 Telugu (in Telugu). Retrieved 10 December 2021.
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  30. "Nandamuri Balakrishna, Boyapati Srinu, Dwaraka Creations' Akhanda Shooting Wrapped Up". industryhit.com. 5 October 2021. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  31. "'Akhanda' first single out: Nandamuri Balakrishna, Pragya Jaiswal's 'Adigaa Adigaa' is a magical melody - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  32. "Title Song of Nandamuri Balakrishna's Akhanda to be Released on Nov 8". News18. 6 November 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  33. Arikatla, Venkat (27 November 2021). "Jai Balayya From Akhanda: Full Dose Mass Number". greatandhra.com. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
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  57. "Nandamuri Balakrishna starrer Akhanda is unstoppable at the box office". The Indian Express. 6 December 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  58. Akhil (6 December 2021). "Akhanda: Dil Raju To Be The Biggest Beneficiary". mirchi9.com. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
  59. "అఖండ మూవీతో 100 కోట్ల మార్క్‌ను అందుకోబోతున్న బాలయ్య | Prajasakti". Prajasakti (in Telugu). 9 December 2021.
  60. "NBK - Akhanda : బాలకృష్ణ 'అఖండ' ఖాతాలో మరో రికార్డు.. పండగ చేసుకుంటున్న ఫ్యాన్స్." News18 Telugu (in Telugu). Retrieved 11 December 2021.
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