Ram Gopal Varma to Akhil Akkineni: You are the best actor in the Akkineni family

Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma praised Akhil Akkineni's performance in Lenin, calling him the best actor in the Akkineni family. He lauded Akhil's emotional depth and commended director Murali Kishor Abburu for delivering a compelling revenge-action drama inspired by the Mahabharata

Mumbai: Maverick filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has written a message for Akhil Akkineni, son of superstar Nagarjuna, and said that he is the “best actor” in the Akkineni family.

RGV took to his X, formerly called Twitter, to heap praise on Akhil and his latest release “Lenin,” directed by Murali Kishor Abburu. He wrote: “Hey @AkhilAkkineni8 Just saw #Lenin, and apart from the FILM being GREAT , I realised that you are the BEST ACTOR in the #Akkineni family.” The filmmaker said that he swears on his superstar father Nagarjuna for this comment. As he added: “…and I swear this on @iamnagarjuna Your ease is remarkable even when there’s no emotion in the scenes and in the emotional scenes you KILLED it. A BIG SHOUT OUT to #MuraliKishorAbburi for giving you AWESOME chords to PLAY.”

---

The film, which also stars Bhagyashri Borse and Sunil, is an epic revenge and action drama set in the village of Srirampuram. It draws heavy thematic inspiration from the Mahabharata, following the protagonist’s quest to end a bloody, long-standing cycle of violence tied to a turbulent village festival.

The makers had released a glimpse video of the film on the occasion of Akhil Akkineni’s birthday last year. The film’s title glimpse opens with scenes reminding one of the final battle in the epic Mahabharata.

Talking about Akhil, Akhil debuted as a child artist in the film Sisindri in 1995. He made his debut as a lead actor with Akhil in 2015. He later went on to star in Hello in 2017 and Mr Majnu. He achieved his commercial breakthrough with the romantic comedy Most Eligible Bachelor in 2021.

Meanwhile, RGV, has directed films across multiple genres. He is popular for having gritty realism, technical finesse in his cinema. Varma is tagged as one of the pioneers of new-age Indian cinema.