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Indian filmmaker, actor and politician, Nandamuri Balakrishna, famously known as Balayya, enjoys a huge fanbase across the country. Predominantly known for his contributions and filmography in the Telugu entertainment industry, his fans are often ready to flock to the cinema halls to watch his films on the first day itself. Well, after four years, he has returned to the big screens with Akhanda 2: Thaandavam, reprising his dual roles, Akhanda Rudra Sikandar Aghora and Murali Krishna, from the franchise’s first film Akhanda (2021).
The movie starts with a flashback, as a reminder to the fans of what happened in the first film. As the story moves forward, Akhanda goes into a deep tapasya of Lord Shiva after talking to his gurus. After a time skip, it is seen that Murali Krishna’s wife has passed away, and his daughter Janani (played by Harshaali Malhotra) is a prodigy in science and technology. Having deep respect for her father, after being pursued by her teacher, she takes her class to her house to celebrate with her family.
On the other hand, the makers give the audience a glimpse into the villains and their motives behind wanting to destroy India. Showing a rivalry between India and China, they release a virus in Ganga River during the Maha Kumbh Mela, to infect and kill all the attendees. Taking this as an opportunity, one of the powerful politicians, who aspires to be a Prime Minister, questions religion and god’s existence.
Watching everything that has been happening, especially how Janani gets in trouble after being a part of a team that makes an antidote fora fast-spreading virus, Akhanda makes a return, saving Janani as well as the country from the virus, the villains, as well as technology.
Being a full-fledged South film, everyone knows how it ends. With questionable VFX, very basic storyline, the movie relies quite heavily on the importance of religion, the existence of God, Sanatan Dharma, giving references of Narsimha and Pralhad’s story as well as Ramayana.
If one is a fan of Balayya they might certainly like the film. From the action packed sequences, no matter how illogical it might be, to his monologues, everything received hoots and cheers from the audience.
Being someone who enjoys a good action flick, I couldn’t keep a track of what was happening in Akhanda 2 as it seemed like the makers wanted to do many things all at once. While some plot points felt unnecessary, a crisper edit of the film might have made it more interesting.
All in all, the movie is a good one time watch if you are a fan of Nandamuri Balakrishna, however, you can give it a miss this weekend and wait to watch it on OTT whenever it releases.
