Sonakshi Sinha’s body of work has not been hugely impressive so far, but the recently launched trailer of her upcoming movie Akira seems set to change all that. The star kid daughter of Shatrughan Sinha has been accused of doing roles that are regressive or irrelevant; being a part of movies where her role has been incidental or for decorative purposes. So far her one claim to cinematic competence was perhaps Lootera and now it seems it will be Akira.
Why Akira is very promising
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsCkty3mpg0
The trailer speaks of a small town girl who has arrived in Mumbai and waded straight into trouble. Dealing with college bullies, dishonest trigger happy cops and doing jail time seems part of the protagonist’s job description. Her image in the film is a significant departure from her demure, traditional look that came before this. Mainly seen in kurtas, jeans and jackets, hers appears to be a de-glam look in this film.
But really it is the action sequences that are the most impressive. The scenes appear gritty and realistic and Sonakshi seems to literally pack quite a punch! She has received martial arts training for this role and it shows. She says that she learned her action from Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan; she learned it well! So for a change we will see a woman execute those round house kicks and the pulverizing punches and the gravity defying action that we see our heroes doing so often. Anurag Kashyap as the evil cop and the elusive Konkona Sen Sharma also as a cop will be another draw but we’re talking about Sonakshi here.
How Sonakshi breaks her own mould
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She has been seen mainly in traditional get up with all the ‘suhaag ki nishaanis’, danced around trees and gyrated to some of the most popular ditties of recent times. She has also ridden the odd motorcycle but her roles have been conventional and stereotypical in the main. Her role in Action Jackson, where the sight of the hero’s unmentionables brings her luck, defied definition and not in a good way! Even her critically acclaimed role in ‘Lootera’ was very much along traditional lines.
Also, so far Sonakshi Sinha has played characters that are incidental to the movie; the protagonist always and firmly being the male lead: ‘Rowdy Rathore’, ‘Dabangg’ etc. belonged to the leading men. Akira is a movie with a female as the central character, another departure from the norm for her. She has clearly stepped outside her comfort zone with Akira and when she says she was born to do this movie, we want to believe her. 2nd September 2016 (release date for Akira) will tell.
Author – Reena Daruwalla
