Akhil Akkineni opens up on Mr Majnu and more during his recent visit to Vizag

Be it Nageswara Rao’s Devadasu, Nagarjuna’s Geethanjali, or even Naga Chaitanya’s Ye Maaya Chesave, the Akkinenis have grown a reputation for presenting some epic love sagas on screen. Continuing this legacy would be Mr Majnu of Akhil Akkineni. The actor was recently in the city and Teja Kovvali caught up with him to find out more.

Mr Majnu to the fore

Inspired by the works of ANR, Nagarjuna, and Trivikram, Mr Majnu comes as a young and energetic love story, shares Akhil. Crediting his director, Venky Atluri, for placing the essentials of Telugu cinema at the film’s core, the actor shares that he had a relatively new experience essaying the role.
“Given the sensitivity with which human relations were dealt in the film, my character involved a lot of talking and body language. This was in total contrast to what I had done in my previous films. However, I thoroughly enjoyed playing the part and am very happy with the final output,” he says.

Fun fact: In Majnu, Akhil’s character, Vicky, was inspired by the one played by Akkineni Nageswara Rao in his popular film, Prem Nagar.

The road ahead

Completing three good years in Telugu film industry, Akhil now has a task ahead of himself. The 24-year-old explains how his previous film, Hello, helped him recover after the debacle of his debut project, Akhil. “Hello was all about trying to regain the audience’s trust that I can make a good film. My confidence now is in a different zone and I’m looking to do films back-to-back,” he shares.
Akhil adds that the coming 16 months of his life would be very hectic. The actor looks to take his career forward and sets the target on giving value to the audience with his films.

Association with Vizag

Akhil Akkineni cherishes that Vizag has always played a major role in the film careers of the Akkineni clan. “The kind of reception I get in Vizag is incredible. In fact, the audio launch of Hello last year was extremely special for me. It was the first time that I was performing live and close to 20,000 people had turned up for the event. The whole atmosphere was beautiful, and I’ll never forget that experience,” he fondly recollects.

The young actor also has a liking for beaches and says nothing can beat Vizag when it comes to spending time amidst his favourite atmosphere.