The last time, Tollywood witnessed a raw and rugged hero operating in Rayalaseema backdrop, Allu Arjun’s Pushpa happened. Bunny got his dialect and appearance bang on point for this film and the overall presentation of Seem backdrop also worked out.
Now, after a while, we are witnessing another hero, take this path, and he is Akhil Akkineni. The glimpse video of the film that was released yesterday on the occasion of his birthday, implied that this film is also set in Seem backdrop.
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Interestingly, even the facial appearance of Akhil looks very close to that of Allu Arjun’s. The long hair and thick beard are reminiscent of the same.
It is a fact that long hair and beard is not necessarily a hallmark exclusively for Allu Arjun, but with the kind of impact he could generate with Pushpa, watching any other hero in this look would remind us of him.
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While Allu Arjun hangover is obviously going to be there, the responsibility is on Akhil to consciously move away from this image at every level.
There must be his own layer of authenticity in dialogue delivery in Seema diction. And also, the mannerisms and subtle nuances must be engineered by Akhil to steer away from Allu Arjun memory of the mass Seema guy character.
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Earlier, Allu Arjun had a master film maker in the form of Sukumar to devise and design such mannerisms. But in this case, Akhil will have to do it on his own and if the director can help, it is a bonus.
There must be a conscious effort to move away from the Pushpa setting. The story and set up, obviously going to be different, but the visual reference and dialogue delivery are what must be altered.
