[intro] Akhil Akkineni is one entrant who has got the most picture-perfect debut so far in his journey to take his position in the march to Superstardom. [/intro]
“Why just a Soundbyte? I will launch the audio”, so said Superstar Mahesh when the sensational Akhil Akkineni asked his favorite star for a quote. And that’s how the stage just got bigger for the grand and gala debut of Akhil for his latest film titled “Akhil”. Directed by V.V. Vinayak, produced by Star Nitin, the film’s music credit is shared by two crazy music composers – Anup Rubens and SS Thaman, and the heroine is a cute girl Sayesha who is the grand-daughter of Dilip Kumar and Saira Bhanu. The venue of the audio launch with all the giant flexis and a packed audience was the huge indoor stadium at Gachibowli, Hyderabad. The significance of the day was the birthday of the evergreen ANR – September 20th – a day of celebration for all Akkineni family fans. What better day for launching the 3rd Generation Star. And it ain’t got bigger than this for any star hero in a long time with anchors galore including the ubiquitous Suma and the chirpy Gayatri Bhargavi sharing the honor
And Superstar Mahesh did come in at exactly 8.30 pm to bless and usher in the new Superstar for Tollywood and sat in between a 3G Naga Chaitanya and a 2G Nagarjuna and stayed till the release of the theatrical trailer which looked promising. For the stage itself, the organisers called all the dear kith and kin of the Akkineni family in bunches of three which included the producers close to Nag and ANR – like KL Narayana, C Kalyan, and so on.
All those who came spoke about the sensation that is going to be created by the young star Akhil who put in massive efforts to train in Los Angeles as an actor for his stylish debut. Actor Nitin spoke of his close friendship with Akhil and the responsibility he felt while trying to launch him. In short video messages, major stars from Kollywood, Mollywood, Sandalwood and Bollywood have showered blessings on Akhil with expectations of a new Star in Tollywood who will carry on the legacy of ANR and Nagarjuna. While the teaser which crossed many lakh views was launched by Salman Khan, the video messages from the likes of Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Hassan, Suriyaa, Ramcharan, Allu Arjun, etc. brought out the goodwill enjoyed by the Nag family with all the stars who matter in the entertainment industry today.
True to his word, Superstar Mahesh had a short message filled with admiration for the youthful sensation of Akhil. He said those 30 seconds of Akhil’s footage in the film “Manam” made the screen glow like a many-watt bulb and convinced him that Tollywood is going to see another Superstar. That’s why he was here – to announce the arrival, he said. While the songs that were played had all the razzmatazz and rhythms, everybody was praising the groovy dancing of Akhil that looked stunning.
A piece of nostalgia recollected by all put things in perspective why Akhil is the future of Tollywood even before his first release as a hero. Akhil was born after Nag’s sensational hit “Hello Brother” released. Then he acted in the superhit remake of “Baby’s Day Out” as “Sisindri” which brought him huge fame even as a baby. In the years he blossomed as a cricketer winning many games for Tollywood Cricket tournaments both within and across film industries, he took his time decide his calling was not in cricket but in films. He allowed the archlights to fall on his elder brother Naga Chaitanya who had a gala-debut launch in “Josh” with Dil Raju as producer while abstaining from public attention.
It seems Nagarjuna had a sit-down reading with Akhil and Naga Chaitanya one day from the book “Outliers” by Malcom Gladwel. In the book, Gladwell outlines that the most successful people in any profession are those who put in atleast 10,000 hours of practice into one field of endeavor and after that they attain world-class fame. The book had a profound influence on both Akhil and Naga Chaitanya in pushing the frontier but it made it easy for the former to decide that Cricket is a hobby and Acting is the field of choice, just as it was in the family. Coming from the Irish-Indian accent of Amala and the class appeal of Nagarjuna, Akhil seems to have inherited the right genes of putting professional practice into the craft before showing up many years after “Sisindri” and the cricket match appearances before making that short cameo in “Manam”. In his speech and his interviews so far, Akhil developed good fluency in Telugu, looks finessed and emotive even if nervous, improved his looks (with help from many finishing schools in Los Angeles), starred in his first Ad (“Mountain Dew”) and developed access with many schools and colleges in Telangana and AP. This helped him hone his public speaking skills and also break the barriers with younger fans. In an industry which already has many star heroes who are dynastically inclined to be in films, Akhil is one entrant who has got the most picture-perfect debut so far in his journey to take his position in the march to Superstardom. The platform has been terrific and the take-off at the audio launch of “Akhil” has been spectacular. You will rarely find a hero debut in a film which bears his own name as the title of the film. Akhil has got all of that, blessings from the Superstar and many other Divas of Indian Entertainment Industry. Here’s wishing him a perfect landing for the movie after release. Seeing the kind of response to the trailer and the music quality, it is all building to that.