Lenin is a period drama set in the 1980s with nostalgia, suspense and emotional storytelling. While the film has a typical narrative structure in its early days, it gradually gets in gear with some interesting twists and performances that keep it entertaining for those who love character-driven drama.

The first half takes the audience into the world of Lenin and in so doing is reminiscent of the 1980s’ production design and visuals. The story is handled with much care at first and can be seen as one of the older dramas. The plot is familiar at first but the screenplay keeps the interest of the audience alive. The biggest moment in the first half is right before the interval when a nice twist takes the story to a new level and leaves the audience wondering what’s next.

The second half builds on the momentum generated by the interval scene. It has many interesting moments and very emotional confrontations and unexpected changes that keep viewers interested. The movie is suspenseful for most of the second half and the characters’ emotional depth is increased.

But the film loses its impact in the last stretch. It’s less convincing from the pre-climax to the climax, the emotional payoff is not what we thought it was going to be. The climax in particular is rushed and could have been well-written in terms of strength and emotional weight. A better ending would have given the whole film more weight.

Akhil Akkineni does one of his best performances and does a good job of portraying his character with honesty and a good level of control and feeling. The film manages to hold itself together on the screen in some of the more emotional scenes and action scenes in a few great sequences and through them as well in which he really does not let go of the emotion and is emotional and has a good performance. Bhagyashri Borse as well as Bhagyashri Borse’s character is wonderful, too as she brings a lot of charm and emotional balance to the story and is a great actress. The chemistry between the lead couple gives the film a lot more depth and adds depth to the story and makes it more emotional and strengthens the film’s emotional core.

The screenplay was able to pull off several twists that didn’t occur to us and keep us guessing. Such twists bring freshness to an otherwise familiar story and keep us engaged for most of the duration.

The film is technically good with its cinematography and a realistic recreation of the 1980s. The visuals really capture the period and the production design really adds to the nostalgic feeling of the film. The background score by Thaman S is a bit low. It does support quite a few scenes but doesn’t really have the emotional impact on the big scenes in the end, especially at the climax.

Lenin is a decent but not great show; strong actors and interesting turns and a good second half make it an entertaining one. The ending is not as impactful as it could be, but a good thriller with suspense and emotion can be enjoyed for the very few minutes.

Lenin is a good film with great storytelling, some interesting twists and some good performances. Despite the weak ending, it still entertains and earns 3.5 out of 5 stars.