Akhanda

Akhanda is a 2021 Indian Telugu-language action drama film written and directed by Boyapati Srinu. It was produced by Miryala Ravinder Reddy, under Dwaraka Creations. It stars Nandamuri Balakrishna in a dual role alongside Pragya Jaiswal, Jagapathi Babu and Prakash Raj Rao Ramesh Srikanth. The soundtrack album and film score is composed by Thaman S.

Released on 7 October 2021, Akhanda opened to mixed reviews from critics and audiences. The film gained popularity because of the soundtrack in the movie. The film became a massive commercial hit grossing over ₹150 crore worldwide, emerging as the second highest-grossing Telugu film of the year and the highest-grossing film in Balakrishna's career. Akhanda was featured at the 53rd International Film Festival of India in the Indian Panorama mainstream section.

Plot
In an impenetrable forest, the Indian Army is under severe hunt for a terrifying brigand named Gajendra Sahu. The encounter gravely injures Gajendra Sahu, and the chieftain of a religious organization, "Maha Rudra Peetam," rescues him. Upon this, Gajendra listens to the chieftain proclaiming the presence of God is in nature, which needs all-time protection, and the public always bowed their head down before the chieftain because of his chair. Due to this, Gajendra conquers it by slaying the chieftain and cabals to play with nature. Before dying, the chieftain states never to challenge fate, creator, and the universe as he cannot cope with its reply. At the same time, a couple, Ramachandraiah & Dharani at Anantapur, are blessed with twins where one is stillborn. Suddenly, an Aghora arrives when the mother is asleep and reveals that one is nature and stillborn is a cataclysm, like that of Shiva 's anger. Ramachandraiah cuts the cords by sending the child to Kaasi via Aghora when the child rises alive at the Lord's sanctum, and Aghoras raises him.

Years later, Murali Krishna is an arbiter, esteemed as a deity. He aims to eradicate factionalism so that the terrain flourishes from four sides. Saranya Bachupally is a newly appointed DC whose acquaintance with Murali Krishna initiates a contretemps that turns into a crush after learning his ideologies. Antahpuram Varadarajulu, a gangster, illegally manages illegal mining of uranium extraction in a reserved forest. The laborers are subjected to inhumane conditions and treated as slaves. Gajendra Sahu paves the path to Varadarajulu as a soul. Since it is green soil, Saranya assigns Principal Secretary Padmavati to make a secret inquiry.

Meanwhile, Murali Krishna & Saranya get married and have a baby girl. One day, multiple children in the region had strange maladies, and doctors were unable to detect the cause behind them. Murali Krishna seeks the government authorities when Padmavati divulges the Varadarajulu's savagery activities and predicts to hinder it swiftly. Otherwise, the region becomes a vast graveyard. Listening to it, Murali Krishna flares up on Varadarajulu when his acolyte Central Minister Bharat Reddy impedes and retrieves him to the hospital. At that point, Varadarajulu moves to Gajendra Sahu, who ruses by planting a bomb at the hospital, causing several deaths, including Bharat Reddy. Following this, Murali Krishna is incriminated and imprisoned by NIA Krishnamacharya Perumal.

Eventually, Murali Krishna's kid also becomes a victim, and Saranya rushes to the city hospital. On the way, Varadarajulu's men attack; while absconding, she enters an ancient cave temple, where Akhanda Rudra Sikandar Aghora, Murali Krishna's elder with supernatural powers, who is proceeding under the mission of reinstating temples. He assaults blackguards, bounces the baby back to life, and safely drops them. Being conscious of it, Gajendra Sahu is frightened and grasps Akhanda as the answer of God. Besides, DSP Ranjan, the younger brother of Varadarajulu, apprehends Saranya and the entire family. On the verge of slaying them, Akhanda appears to eliminate the wicked officers. Forthwith, he interrupts Gajendra Sahu's ritual by throwing Ranjan's dead body and giving him an ultimatum.

Dharani learns the fact when she rebukes them and decides to recoup her son. Akhanda proclaims his dedicated life to the Lord, disturbing the mother as she loses the two. Anyhow, Akhanda develops unknown affection for the baby. Once, Akhanda spots Padmavati at a river and detects it through his yogic powers. She had been tortured and suffered by the state by Varadarajulu due to uncovering the scam. Therefore, he onslaughts on Varadarajulu at the mining area, foredo him, and frees the laborers. Currently, Krishnamacharya Perumal departs to seize Akhanda for the bloodbath. As soon as he responds, the extreme of this world and the miscreants' elimination are essential. Krishnamacharya Perumal also knows that Murali Krishna is non-guilty via Padmavati and acquits him.

Later, Gajendra Sahu contacts a Kapalik tantrik, Prachanda, to kill Akhanda. Ergo, they spell cursed death over the baby when Akhanda gives a call to Kedari Aghori Baba from Kaasi, who foretells to conduct "Maha Mrityunjay Homam." Until the ritual's completion, Akhanda is captive to Shiva, where Gajendra Sahu and Prachanda devise a trap and wallop on him. However, Akhanda bears the pain and successfully finishes the ritual with Murali Krishna's aid. At last, Akhanda manifests him with mighty powers from Shiva, where he wreaks havoc and kills Gajendra & Prachanda. After this, Akhanda leaves, but he promises the child that he will be back if they are in trouble again.

Cast

 * Nandamuri Balakrishna in a dual role as
 * Akhanda Rudra Sikandar Ghora, a powerful Aghora,Murali Krishna's Elder Twin Brother, Veeraraghava’s Elder Son
 * Murali Krishna, Akhanda's Younger Twin Brothr, Veeraraghava’s Younger Son, Saranya's Husband, Janani's Father
 * Pragya Jaiswal as Saranya Bachupally IAS, Murali Krishna's Wife, Janani's Mother
 * Jagapathi Babu as Aghora Baba
 * Srikanth as Varadarajulu, the owner of the copper mining
 * Nithin Mehta as Gajendra Sahu
 * Rao Ramesh As Veeraraghava,Murali Krishna’s Father
 * Prakash Raj As Chandrasekhar,Balayya’s Grandfather
 * Poorna as Padmavathi IAS, Principal Secretary
 * Avinash as Ramachandariah, Akhanda and Murali's father
 * Viji Chandrasekhar as Dharani, Akhanda and Murali's mother
 * Sharath Lohitashwa as Krishnamacharya Perumal, an NIA officer
 * Suresh Chandra Menon as Jagajith Chauhan, a businessman
 * Subbaraju as Central Minister A. Bharath Reddy
 * Prabhakar as DSP Ranjan and Varadarajulu's younger brother
 * Sravan as Varadarajulu's youngest brother
 * Ayyappa P. Sharma as Prachanda, an evil Tantrik
 * Naga Mahesh as Rajappa
 * Chammak Chandra as Murali's fan
 * Baby Deshna Javaji as Janani, Saranya and Murali Krishna's daughter

Development
The film marks the third collaboration between Balakrishna and Boyapati Srinu after Simha (2010) and Legend (2014). It was formally launched at a private event held at Hyderabad in December 2019. The film was tentatively titled as BB3 and NBK106. In April 2021, the film's official title was unveiled as Akhanda.

Cast and crew
Sayyeshaa was cast for the film for an undisclosed role in November 2020. Later, she left the project due to an unknown reason. It was also reported that Anjali will be part of the film. 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. 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". Initially Prayaga Martin was cast for the lead actress role. Few scenes were also shot featuring her, but was later replaced by Pragya Jaiswal. 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. 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". 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 Srinu's (the film's director) Akhanda Movie is a Devotional Action Movie which will impress the audience. We also designed his tattoos and the Shiva Lingam locket that he uses in fight scenes".

Filming
Principal photography of the film began in March 2020. After the filming was halted due to COVID-19 pandemic in India, final schedule of the film was resumed in July 2021 at Hyderabad. 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. These action scenes were choreographed by Shiva. It was reported that the scenes were shot at Gingee Venkataramana Temple in Viluppuram district of Tamil Nadu. As part of the final schedule, the team next headed to Goa in September 2021 to shoot songs of the film. Filming was wrapped up in October 2021.

Music
The film score and soundtrack album of the film is composed by Thaman S. The first single from the soundtrack, "Adigaa Adigaa" was released on 18 September 2021. The second single "Akhanda Title Song" was released on 8 November 2021. 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. The music rights were acquired by Lahari Music.

Theatrical
The film was initially planned to be released on 28 May 2021. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India, the film was delayed to 2 December 2021. The Tamil dubbed version of the film was released on 28 January 2022. The film was also dubbed in Hindi under the same title and released on 20 January 2023.

Home media
Digital distribution rights of the film were acquired by Disney+ Hotstar for ₹15 crore. Satellite rights of the film were purchased by Star Maa. The film was premiered on Hotstar on 21 January 2022 and became the most watched regional film on OTT platforms. The movie had its television premiere on Star Maa on 10 April 2022. The satellite rights of the Hindi dub were sold to Zee Cinema.

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. 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."

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." 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.

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. 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."

Box office
Akhanda collected ₹20.8 crore in the Telugu states on its opening day. Whereas, it has collected a total of ₹29.60 crore worldwide on its opening day. The film collected ₹44 crore, by the second day of its release. At the United States box office, it collected of more than $500,000 within two days of its release. By the third day of the film's release, it had collected ₹56.90 crore worldwide. After four days, the film collected ₹66.7 crores.

By the end of first week, the film grossed ₹79.9 crore worldwide. The film crossed the ₹95.9 crore worldwide gross in 11 days. By the end of its run, the film grossed ₹133.20 crores. In theatres, the film completed 50 days in 103 centres.