Trailer Watch: 'Akira'

Sonakshi Sinha’s career so far has mainly consisted of gimmicky, commercial masala films which have never done much for her as an actress. In her filmography of around 15 films since debuting in 2010, there is one lone film that has recall value, Lootera. This is perhaps her career best performance, and the one film which critics loved her in, not because she cannot act otherwise (watch Lootera and decide for yourself) but because no other film had as great a role and gave her as much scope to perform as that one did. Unfortunately, the promise that was shown in Lootera was swept under the carpet as it was followed by hordes of other silly, ridiculous films which, again, gave her nothing to do.

That’s the main reason why the trailer for Akira seems so promising. Directed by A. R. Murugadoss (who has directed many Tamil films and whose Hindi credit include Ghajini and Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty), the trailer shows the central character of Akira Sharma moving to Mumbai from Jodhpur to pursue a degree and getting embroiled in what appears to be a case of a mistaken identity when a corrupt cop (Anurag Kashyap) tries to cover his tracks and tries to go after who he thinks has blown his corrupt practices. It appears as though Akira goes through hell when she is framed and comes out broken and bruised but seeks to extract revenge. In the fray is Konkona Sen Sharma, also a cop, sniffing around a case and trying to put two and two together.

What really elevates this trailer is just how badass Akira is, and the confidence with which Sonakshi portrays this character. She punches her way through the villainous set, doesn’t take s*** from anybody and kicks a whole lotta ass! She fights back and gives back what she gets, and then some! She’s also brave and appears to get herself together after going through hell and fights back. There is a dearth of strong female characters in Hindi cinema and even rarer are female-centric films. This film appears to be a combination of both and what can we say, apart from — we love it!

Anurag Kashyap, going the Karan Johar route (i.e. a director playing a villainous character, ironically in Anurag’s own film Bombay Velvet), looks to be very adept at playing the villain. He sneers, snivels and looks menacing.

Akira may just be Sonakshi's coming of age film

Perhaps the only weak spot in the trailer is the way Konkona’s role is shown. The trailer doesn’t show clearly what her role may be or her place in the film, but she appears to be on the good side. Her character is not shown interacting with either Anurag’s or with Sonakshi's but here's hoping that further promos flesh out her role a bit more.

All in all, the Akira trailer is one that hits the right mark and raises hopes that Sonakshi might just have eked out a performance that does justice to her untapped talent. Akira hits the marquee 2 September 2016.

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