Akhanda 2, produced by 14 Reels Plus, was released in theatres today. In this section, we are going to review the latest box-office release.
Plot:
A child prodigy named Janani (Harshaali Malhotra in her Telugu debut) develops an antidote when a bio-terror attack engulfs India from a rogue Chinese General operating in the shadows from Tibet. When Ajith Thakur (Kabir Duhan Singh), an unscrupulous and sadistic opposition leader gets a whiff of it, he targets the young scientist. Aghora Akhanda (Balakrishna), who comes with decades of 'tapas', is the only force on Earth who can foil the evil design and rescue Janani. In what appears to be a deadly clash, Akhanda has to lock horns with Aadhi Pinisetty's Visachi, who has done enough 'sadhana' and is deploying his powers for evil purposes.
Performances & Technical Departments:
Balakrishna's sincere performance is the film's saving grace. He single-handedly keeps the flat screenplay from falling apart; importantly he does this without opting for a shouting match. He was sober in Bhagavanth Kesari and distinctive in Daaku Maharaaj; in Akhanda 2, he treads a familiar path and yet manages to emerge with distinction. As Murali Krishna, there is little that he gets to do except in an action sequence where he has to warn a baddie from the Kannada land and another baddie from another state.
Aadhi Pinisetty's talent was put to a more effective use by Sarrainodu. We walk in with the expectation that his character is the most dangerous of them all because he can't be snuffed out of existence easily. Turns out that he is less obstinate than Kabir Duhan Singh's character. The bad guys in the movie, when they are not involved in black magic, come across as typical mafia leaders who strayed into politics after they forgot to smile. Samyuktha Menon's character is strictly there to appease the mass audience; that's nothing inherently wrong but then, Jajikaya Jajikaya is flat.
Thaman's musical streak with Balakrishna continues. This is his fifth major outing; the songs manage to set the action sequences for a certain mood. The background score is out of the ordinary if you stop comparing it with the soundscape of the first edition of Akhanda. The cinematography is conventional, while the production design is derivative in the Seema scenes and banal in the battle/action episodes.
Post-Mortem:
For Akhanda 2, both DRDO and NIA are 'jujube'. The former is inhabited by geniuses whose IQ will make even Einstein envious. The latter is headed by sleuths who are least interested in the middle path or a Plan B. For Akhanda 2, China is so mighty scared of India that its Generals become knowledge-seekers, reading Bhagavad Gita in the original language rather than an English translation of ISKCON. While doing so, a General miraculously acquires a melodious voice; he could just record his voice for Bhakti TV. For Akhanda 2, India is fearless not because it scared away invaders but because it was invaded repeatedly for 100s of years. For Akhanda 2, India's past and future are great and therefore, the present needs to be secured even though pilgrims praying in temples are allegedly insincere (as per the Aghora character himself).
Akhanda 2's ambition should have lied in its storytelling. Since a geopolitical plot was chosen, there was enough room to experiment with the kind of characters who never inhabited a Boyapati Sreenu world. The vaccine track is hurried through and it's understandable why; the hero is not the scientist. However, nothing justifies the rush to bulldoze over logic at every turn. The entire administration is caught sleeping when one young woman is out in the open, risking her life to save the country.
Balakrishna's acting and mere presence brings gravitas. While this is the saving race, the film would have surprised the audience had the Aghora been given a handicap in some way. Even superheroes have their vulnerabilities. There is no fun in making them omnipotent from the word go. A nice backstory that explains how Aghora lost some of his powers and now has to make immense sacrifices to regain them at the risk of being damned by everyone around him would have made for a fascinating plot.
Closing Remarks:
The film rides solely on the sincere performance and magnetic presence of Balakrishna, who single-handedly prevents the flat screenplay from collapsing. His portrayal of Aghora Akhanda is distinctive, successfully treading a familiar path with authority. However, the film is consistently let down by a hurried, illogical geopolitical plot involving bio-terror, rogue generals, and a vaccine track that is quickly bulldozed.
