Nandamuri Balakrishna has not ventured into the pan-Indian market before, unlike his contemporaries Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, and Venkatesh, who have made such attempts, though with limited success. Chiranjeevi’s recent pan-Indian ventures were box office failures.
Nagarjuna, despite having pan-Indian appeal, hasn’t seen major success in other languages with his recent films.
Venkatesh, known to Hindi audiences from his earlier Bollywood days, also hasn’t found favorable results with his recent pan-Indian projects.
Now, Balakrishna is trying his luck with Akhanda 2, which will be his first pan-Indian project. While Tamil and Hindi critics used to mock Balakrishna's films, the landscape has changed.
Many current pan-Indian action dramas feature illogical plots and gravity-defying action sequences, a trend that now makes Balakrishna’s films less vulnerable to ridicule.
With its devotional elements, Balakrishna and director Boyapati Srinu are confident that Akhanda 2 will strike a chord with North Indian audiences.
The question remains: will Balakrishna’s optimism pay off?