‘No one will say it flopped’: Naga Vamsi’s massive Rs 200 crore prediction for Akhil’s Lenin

3 min readHyderabadJul 6, 2026 07:28 PM IST

Akhil Akkineni and Bhagyashri Borse in their upcoming film, Lenin.

Akhil Akkineni has waited nearly a decade for the film that settles his career, and his producer believes Lenin is it. Days ahead of the film’s release on July 10, producer Naga Vamsi has guaranteed Lenin will be a hit among the audiences.

“As a commercial film, while I believe it easily can make 100 crores, probably even 200 crores, but I will not say it. That might sound unbelievable, but I guarantee it is a hit. No one will say it flopped, no matter what,” the Sithara Entertainments head said in a recent interview with Gulte Pro.

Pressed on whether audiences might disagree, he doubled down. “The general audience will not come out saying they are disappointed with Lenin. Definitely not, 200 per cent, no one will say that. And I say this after thinking it over carefully from all angles.”

The producer’s confidence rests on the film’s drama, which he believes cuts across audience segments. “The setup is a bit mass-appealing, but the way it connects the ABC centres through drama is what works. It is a movie that connects with everyone,” he said, adding a detail from the star himself: “That is why Akhil calls it the Mahabharata, the real Mahabharata.”

On the film’s pacing, Naga Vamsi was specific. “From around 45 minutes before the interval to the climax, not a single scene feels wasted. Not a single second gets boring,” he said.

Also Read: Akhil Akkineni on Agent’s failure: ‘We could not deliver a good film…’

Vamsi also shared how he boarded the project, revealing that the story had been with him for a while before Akhil Akkineni’s interest sealed it. “I knew this story for some time. After I found out Akhil had heard it and liked it, I decided we should do it together,” he said, praising director Murali Kishor Abburu’s visual sense, which he said reminded him of the filmmaker’s earlier work.

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The bullishness recalls the producer’s stance on Lucky Baskhar, when he had famously offered to personally discuss the film with any reviewer who disliked it. “No one ever said the movie was bad. Not even once,” he said of that episode.

Lenin is a Telugu rural action drama directed by Murali Kishor Abburu, who earlier made Vinaro Bhagyamu Vishnu Katha. It stars Akhil Akkineni alongside Bhagyashri Borse, Sivaji, Sunil, Brahmaji and Easwari Rao. The film is jointly produced by Akkineni Nagarjuna and Suryadevara Naga Vamsi under Manam Enterprises and Sithara Entertainments, with music composed by Thaman. Releasing on July 10, it arrives as Akhil’s first film since Agent in 2023 and is widely viewed as the most important release of his career, coming nearly a decade after his debut without a defining commercial hit.

The road to theatres has not been smooth, with the release date shifting three times, from May 1 to June 26 and finally to July 10, the first move made to avoid a box office clash with Ram Charan’s Peddi and the latest announced by Nagarjuna, who told fans the team wanted more time and promised they would see a new Akhil Akkineni.