After the disastrous Agent, Akhil Akkineni took a long break before returning with Lenin. Producer by Nagarjuna and Naga Vamsi, and directed by Murali Krishna Apoorva, the film carried decent expectations among audiences. The teaser and trailer looked promising So, does Lenin finally give Akhil the much-needed comeback? Let’s find out.
Story
Lenin (Akhil Akkineni), an orphan, arrives in a village in Chittoor district during a festival and slowly becomes close to one of the village’s most respected families. As he wins everyone’s trust, he falls in love with Bharathi (Bhagyashri Borse).
Just when everything seems to be falling into place, unexpected events turn Lenin’s life upside down, eventually landing him in prison. What led him there? What is Bharathi’s role in the story? And who is Ethirajulu (Shivaji)? The answers form the rest of the story.
Performance
Akhil Akkineni is undoubtedly the biggest positive of the film. He puts in a sincere effort and delivers one of his better performances. Whether it’s the emotional scenes or the action episodes, Akhil gives his best.
Bhagyashri Borse looks gorgeous on screen and gets a decent role. She performs well whenever the story gives her an opportunity. Shivaji, Brahmaji, Eeswari Rao, Shatru, and the rest of the supporting cast perform their parts convincingly.
Analysis
Lenin starts on a reasonably engaging note. The initial village setup and Akhil’s introduction manage to create some curiosity. A few early elevation scenes also work to an extent and give the impression that the film is building towards something interesting.Unfortunately, that’s where the positives end.
As the story progresses, the screenplay becomes increasingly dependent on twists. Instead of allowing the narrative to flow naturally, almost every major scene feels designed only to deliver another surprise. After a point, these twists begin to feel forced rather than exciting, making the overall experience less engaging.
The first half moves at a decent pace, but the second half struggles badly. The film keeps throwing one twist after another, yet very few of them leave any real impact. The climax, in particular, tests the audience’s patience. Instead of delivering an emotionally satisfying payoff, the final shock element feels completely unnecessary and ends up hurting the film more than helping it.
Another disappointment is that many of the so-called surprise moments were already leaked on social media before release. As a result, several scenes that were meant to shock the audience lose their impact completely.
On the technical front, the cinematography is decent and a few visuals stand out. However, Thaman’s background score turns out to be a major disappointment. Instead of enhancing the emotional and action sequences, the constantly loud background music becomes distracting and often irritates rather than elevating the experience. The songs also fail to leave any impression.
Overall, Lenin is a film that relies heavily on twists but forgets to build a strong story around them. Despite Akhil’s sincere performance, very little in the film actually works.
Verdict
Lenin had the potential to be Akhil’s comeback film, but the weak screenplay lets it down. Apart from Akhil’s performance and Bhagyashri Borse’s screen presence, very little works in its favour. Forced twists, an overlong climax, and an unnecessarily loud background score make this a disappointing one
Rating: 2.25/5
