‘Akhanda 2: Tandavam’ Movie Review

Movie Review: ‘Akhanda 2: Tandavam’

Cast: Nandamuri Balakrishna, Samyukta, Aadi Pinisetty, Harshali Malhotra, Shashwata Chatterjee, Kabir Singh Dulhan, Sharath Lohitasva, Poorna and others

Music: Thaman

Cinematography: Ram Prasad- Santosh Detake

Producers: Ram Achanta- Gopinath Achanta

Written-Directed by: Boyapati Srinu

Known for their blockbuster mass movies, Nandamuri Balakrishna and Boyapati Srinu are a powerful combination. Every time they have joined forces, they have delivered big movies like Simha, Legend, and recently, Akhanda as well. Now that they are back again with the sequel film, ‘Akhanda 2: Tandavam’, and the film faced some release delays after it got postponed from December 5th. Even then, the film didn’t lose the expectations bar, and let’s see if it lives up to that on the silver screen.

Story:

Muralikrishna (Balakrishna) is an MLA from the Rayalaseema region whose daughter Janani (Harshali Malhotra) works as a scientist in DRDO. She invents a special bio-suit that helps soldiers survive in any extreme terrain. While the tests of this suit are going on, a Chinese Army General joins forces with an Indian politician to disrupt the country’s stability. They plan a dangerous attack by releasing a virus into the Ganga River, thereby affecting millions of people attending Kumbh Mela, and pushing the country into panic mode. And then, again, Janani takes up the challenge of developing a vaccine for the same virus, and a few people try to destroy that as well. At this point, Muralikrishna’s brother Akhanda (Balakrishna), an Aghori, steps in. How he protects the country from the enemies and what extremes he goes to, form the rest of the story.

Analysis:

The response to a ‘mass’ scene usually depends on the hero’s image. Some scenes look like exaggeration with a few heroes, but Balakrishna falls into the category that can go over the top in terms of mass elements. There are times when that overboard approach worked for him. Even director Boyapati is also known for that over the top action sequences only. When expectations are high about this massive mass combination, many expected that their destruction on the screen would be next level. However, after giving three back to back blockbusters, it looks like they made Akhanda 2 with the confidence that anything they do will be taken positively. The film goes beyond loud and extreme, only to land as mediocre. Turning a man around and giving him aarti, holding a helicopter’s wings (blades) with the Trishul to spin them, firing a machine gun with the same Trishul; reaching to places where the Indian army cannot go, and going alone to fight China, killing their Army General, just explains the stunts Akhanda 2 did. These not-normal stunts, in the name of mass cinema, are filled throughout the movie, and when one looks at it from a different perspective, it sounds like troll stuff.

After making two regular mass films with Balayya, Boyapati later added divine-angle into their third outing, Akhanda, making the second role of the hero inside the movie as a staunch Lord Siva devotee. That film came at a time when mythological and divine elements were trending, and that’s why Akhanda became a massive hit. However, while carving out the sequel, Akhanda 2, Boyapati doubled everything, including double mass, double elevation and doubled divine touch. That became too much to bear at one point. Not only did those mass scenes cross all the limits, but the divine elements also went overboard. In the end, the film failed to get that natural and powerful feel that Akhanda 1 had.

Despite all this exaggeration, the film still has moments that the masses will cherish. Especially the interval episode showing the Aghora’s return is whistleworthy. The sequence where Balayya gets Poonakam of Lord Hanuman is also solid. Many action sequences are designed purely for hype; what lacks in them is the emotional core. With the villains being too weak, the whole setup looks unreal. The so-called powerful tantric villain looks dangerous, but can’t stand Akhanda the two times they meet. And the Chinese army Chief appears, and his soldiers feel like puppets in front of Akhanda. Like in a video game where a spear-wielding central character will kill everyone, here also Akhanda kills them all incluidng the goons with guns, a tantric with powers and an army chief. The thrilling part of the movie gets dulled as the hero is shown at peaks always.

None expects logic in Boayapati’s films, as he runs a story thread in between heroism and action sequences. This time, in an attempt to make Akhanda-2 as a pan-India film, he added things like Kumbh Mela and a virus plot. But it simply failed to click and ended up as a misfire. The dialogues about Sanatana Dharma sound catchy at a point, but the scenes around it feel quite exaggerated. The Shiva element doesn’t give the same honest emotion that it did in Akhanda. The emotional connection the audience had with the first part is missing here, because the action elements pushed to such extremes made the soul of the character get lost. Overall, Akhanda 2 struggles to create the spirit of the original, and the overdose of mass feast makes it difficult to satisfy the audience.

Actors:

Nandamuri Balakrishna effortlessly stepped into the role of Akhanda once again, with a strong performance as always. His dialogue delivery is powerful and carries impact. However, his look as the older Akhandaa didn’t work very well with the makeup, feeling a bit off. Surely a different approach would have worked well, but here, he looks good only in the scenes where he appears with the getup used in the previous part. As Muralikrishna, he fits the role well.

Samyukta played the role of heroine, and looks very glamorous in the Jajikaya song, grabbing some attention. Harshaali Malhotra (Bajrangi Bhaijaan fame child artist), who plays his daughter, is just okay in her part. None of the villains created an impact, including Aadi Pinisetty, who put a lot of effort into the makeup for the tantric role. His character never leaves a mark on the audience. Shashwatha Chatterjee, who plays the Chinese Army Chief, is pretty average, while Kabir Singh Dulhan is good as Thakur. Sarvadhaman Banerjee as the Prime Minister doesn’t stand out much, while the likes of Sarath Lohitaswa, Poorna, and the remaining cast are okayish.

Technician:

SS Thaman, as usual, made his loud music clears the blockages in our ears, but his songs were clouded by the BGM; we can’t say how they are. The Sanskrit chants used in the background score for the hero’s elevation scenes are good, but the score got too loud, so we can’t even find out what the sound is. Thaman should come out of the infatuation that using too many instruments and creating a high decibel score is ‘mass’ music. Cinematography by Ram Prasad and Santosh Datake looks solid, as rich visuals stand proof to that. The high budget is clearly visible on screen, with an amazing production design in place.

Coming to writer–director Boyapati Srinu, Akhanda 2 reminds him of the point that he should come out of the mass template immediately. There is nothing inside the movie to boast about Boayapati’s story or screenplay talents. Earlier, though Boyapati’s trademark formulae used to work for Balakrishna, this time the overdose of mass elements made that impossible. Even with Balayya, the mass goes over the top, crossed the limits.

Finally: Akhanda 2.. Mass Overdose

Rating - 2.25/5