Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Kairam Vaashi reviews Lenin, written and directed by Murali Kishor Abburu and starring Akhil Akkineni, for The Hollywood Reporter India. Where Rao Bahadur's Ramappa was consumed by doubt, Lenin is driven entirely by love — a love so powerful it feels almost mythical, keeping the village of Ramapuram peaceful, a place where nobody's blood should ever touch the soil and violence has no place. But as the film's tagline warns, no war is more violent than love. Kairam finds the central idea fascinating — a protagonist from a bloodless land in the very industry that birthed faction-violence cinema — and appreciates how the story is loosely rooted in the Mahabharata and the Kurukshetra war, with Dharmaraju and Draupadi references adding welcome density to the pulpy drama, even if he felt there was thicker juice to be extracted from these ideas.
Kairam notes that what begins as a hero-centric, fairly template town love story ends up much better than its initial setup promises — primarily because it gets its surprises right, with five major twists of which most genuinely caught him off guard. He calls it deliberate, intentional commercial cinema backed by smart writing, one that trusts its drama and its actors, allowing scenes like Akhil's extended solo performance to breathe. His biggest issues are the template-like setup, the overly stretched love track between Lenin and Bharathi, and the frequent pauses for songs, though Thaman's background score grows stronger from the pre-interval portions and 'Jaya Mangalam' carries that signature Thaman touch. His THR India Bottomline: much like the director trusts his drama and his actors, the film asks us to trust it for the first 45 minutes — he did, and it rewarded that patience with a far more engaging second half. Lenin is now playing in theatres.
#Lenin #LeninReview #THRIndia
Kairam Vaashi reviews Lenin, written and directed by Murali Kishor Abburu and starring Akhil Akkineni, for The Hollywood Reporter India. Where Rao Bahadur's Ramappa was consumed by doubt, Lenin is driven entirely by love — a love so powerful it feels almost mythical, keeping the village of Ramapuram peaceful, a place where nobody's blood should ever touch the soil and violence has no place. But as the film's tagline warns, no war is more violent than love. Kairam finds the central idea fascinating — a protagonist from a bloodless land in the very industry that birthed faction-violence cinema — and appreciates how the story is loosely rooted in the Mahabharata and the Kurukshetra war, with Dharmaraju and Draupadi references adding welcome density to the pulpy drama, even if he felt there was thicker juice to be extracted from these ideas.
Kairam notes that what begins as a hero-centric, fairly template town love story ends up much better than its initial setup promises — primarily because it gets its surprises right, with five major twists of which most genuinely caught him off guard. He calls it deliberate, intentional commercial cinema backed by smart writing, one that trusts its drama and its actors, allowing scenes like Akhil's extended solo performance to breathe. His biggest issues are the template-like setup, the overly stretched love track between Lenin and Bharathi, and the frequent pauses for songs, though Thaman's background score grows stronger from the pre-interval portions and 'Jaya Mangalam' carries that signature Thaman touch. His THR India Bottomline: much like the director trusts his drama and his actors, the film asks us to trust it for the first 45 minutes — he did, and it rewarded that patience with a far more engaging second half. Lenin is now playing in theatres.
#Lenin #LeninReview #THRIndia
