A hit, at last, for this bachelor

His wait for a hit ends, at last. Now he is on cloud nine, savouring this success. 

Akhil Akkineni, son of legendary Tollywood actor Nagarjuna, was desperate for a break since he made his debut as a hero in 2015. Actually, he had made his appearance on the silver screen for the first time as a child artist in ‘Sisindri’ in 1995.

On the day of Dussehra (15 October, 2021), the dream of Akhil Akkineni was fulfilled with his latest venture ‘Most Eligible Bachelor’, which became a runaway hit and set off cash registers ringing at the box office. With some luck, the State Government also decided to allow full occupancy in theatres for which the hero later expressed his gratitude. This decision is expected to double the projected collections of the movie. 

In USA as well, the flick, in which the actor shakes legs with co-actor Pooja Hegde, is drawing crowds. This film is among the few movies that crossed the half-million-dollar mark post the COVID-19 pandemic.

A hit after three under-performers

Released with high expectations, the star son’s first movie, ‘Akhil’, didn’t do well at the box office in 2015, disappointing the Akkineni fans. Though the hero bagged a couple of awards, in the ‘Best Male Debut’ category at the Filmfare Awards and SIIMA Awards, the film failed to strike a right chord with the audience and proved to be a below-average grosser. 

Next was the film ‘Hello’ to which the cine buffs did not respond positively. Though the critics made fair comments, the movie, which released in 2017, failed to draw audiences to theatres and was the second flop added to the hero’s kitty. 

Down with two consecutive flops, the 27-year-old actor tried to experiment by choosing the title of his father Nagarjuna, ‘Majnu’, by prefixing ‘Mr.’ to it. (Nagarjuna starrer Majnu, directed by Dasari Narayana Rao, was released in 1987). Hitting the screens in 2019, ‘Mr. Majnu’ too failed to make a mark, belying all his hopes of scaling the ladder of stardom. 

Despite the odds, the young hero wanted a bright light at the end of the tunnel and joined hands with the successful director ‘Bommarillu’ Bhaskar with a firm resolve to get a hit. The result was ‘Most Eligible Bachelor’ which brought a smile to the face of ‘Sisindri’ aka Akhil Akkineni.

Written by Mr. Lakkoju Nagesh Babu for Yo! Vizag.