Akhanda 2: Thaandavam – Faith, Fury, and Full-Throttle Spectacle
Among Telugu cinema’s grand crowd-pleasers, few titles spark as much noise as Akhanda. Boyapati Srinu’s Akhanda 2: Thaandavam (2025) lifts the trident once more, with Nandamuri Balakrishna back as the fierce devotee of Lord Shiva. Released on 25 September 2025 for the Dussehra weekend, this action drama mixes devotion, mythic scale, and bruising action, built on a reported ₹150 crore canvas with heavy VFX work. With a runtime of 2 hours and 50 minutes, it delivers a bruising, spiritual ride through innocence, nature’s rage, and unwavering belief. The big question is whether it outshines the first film, and it certainly swings for the fences.
Cast and Crew: A Team Built for Big Moments
Before we get into the story, here is the line-up driving this spectacle:
- Nandamuri Balakrishna as Akhanda, dual role: A mass hero in full throttle, trishul in hand, judgment in his gaze.
- Samyuktha Menon as the female lead: Graceful, grounded, and central to the film’s heart.
- Ayyappa P. Sharma in a key role: As the aide to the villain, he injects a real threat.
- Saswata Chatterjee as the chief antagonist: Cold, methodical, and chilling on screen.
- Aadhi Pinisetty in support: Sharp presence in tense face-offs.
- Director: Boyapati Srinu, reuniting with Balakrishna for the fourth time after Simha, Legend, and Akhanda.
- Music: S. S. Thaman, with pulse-quickening themes and song placements.
- Cinematography: C. Ramprasad and Santosh D. Detakae, balancing scale and speed.
- Producers: Raam Achanta and Gopi Achanta under 14 Reels Plus, presented by M. Tejaswini Nandamuri.
This crew brings star wattage, muscle, and technical finesse, primed for an arena-sized release.
Plot Summary: Innocence Meets Chaos (Spoiler-Light)
Thaandavam begins in the Himalayan mist. Akhanda now lives as a wandering sage, keeper of Shiva’s ancient truths. Trouble arrives when a ruthless industrialist, played by Saswata Chatterjee, seeks to plunder sacred land for profit and unleashes a cult that feeds on fear. The pleas of children, symbols of pure faith, stir Akhanda’s sleeping rage.
Communities join to resist both ecological damage and spiritual insult. What follows is a storm of betrayals, miracle-like moments, and arcs of atonement. Boyapati’s familiar double-role play has Balakrishna shift from calm seer to storm-bringer with a trishul, echoing the first film’s good-versus-evil drive while adding an eco-spiritual thread. It reads less like a revenge plot and more like a call for balance between people, nature, and the divine, wrapped in high-stakes drama.
What Works: Big Scale, Big Heart
Akhanda 2 thrives on glorious excess, and it wears that proudly. At 65, Balakrishna carries a commanding presence, and his first entry lands with thunder, chants, and a trishul spin that sends theatres into a frenzy. The action design has weight and rhythm. Snow-clad duels build to an explosive finale where VFX-driven Shiva imagery collides with brutal machinery. Thaman’s music lifts every set-piece. The title banger, Jai Balayya, thumps like a war cry, timed to each hit and stare-down.
Samyuktha Menon gives the film warmth and urgency as a mother driven by faith and fear for her child. Saswata Chatterjee’s villain is not a caricature. His cold sermons on greed add a sharp edge that makes the clashes feel moral as much as physical.
The visuals, shaped by two cinematographers, fire on all cylinders. Golden Himalayan dusk sits beside gritty city raids, while VFX ranges from serpent-like mirages to wind and fire storms that feel mythic without drowning the frame. Boyapati’s script sticks to a tried template, yet threads in social notes on deforestation and corporate grab without turning into a lecture. Mass fans get their highs, families get a cause to root for.
There are stumbles. The first hour stretches its set-up. Aadhi Pinisetty’s conflicted track could use more detail. Some lines tip into melodrama, like Faith is the ultimate weapon!, yet in Balakrishna’s booming voice, they turn into rallying calls.
Themes: Muscle with Meaning
At heart, Thaandavam is a hymn to bhakti in a world that loves to exploit. Balakrishna’s anger is tied to protection, not ego. The wonder in children’s eyes reflects Shiva’s fierce kindness. The eco-spiritual strand feels current, pushing back at corporate greed and honouring native belief systems. It may be Boyapati’s most layered effort to date, blending the scale of global-facing Telugu cinema with a clear moral spine.
Verdict: A Thunderous Mass Entertainer
Akhanda 2: Thaandavam is not perfect. The pacing dips, and a few tropes repeat. Yet it is loud in the best way, confident, and wildly entertaining. Early reports peg day one worldwide numbers at around ₹65 crore, with strong word of mouth and an IMDb rating of 8/10. It strengthens Balakrishna’s mass image and Boyapati’s box office touch. If Akhanda lit the fuse, this one brings the blaze. Catch it on the biggest screen you can. Rating: 3.5/5, a fervent thaandavam worth the trip.