AKIRA MOVIE REVIEW

Akira is ARMurugadoss’s third film in Hindi, a remake of Santha Kumar’s 2011 film Mouna Guru. Sonakshi Sinha as Akira is playing the role of Arulnithi in the Hindi version. We also have Anurag Kashyap playing the antagonist, Raai Laxmi in an interesting guest role along with Konkona Sen, Urmila Mahanta and Atul Kulkarni playing other important roles. Vishal-Shekhar have handled the music while the cinematography and editing department have been taken care of by R.D.Rajasekhar and Sreekar Prasad respectively.
 

What is it about?
The film is about Akira, a girl who was brought up with thoughts of boldness and bravery instilled in her through her dad who had decided it’s best  she learns Karate instead of Bharatanatyam. On the other hand is the antagonist, a subtly insane but definitely rogue cop who is up to mischief after mischief only trying to cover up the previous ones. What happens when the beauty-meets-beast; girl gets mixed up in the rogue cop’s scheme is a Bollywood ballad we’ve been hearing time and again but this time around, it comes with a tangy flavor. 

What makes up the movie:
The movie has what you would expect from an ARM film - a fast and furious screenplay, swiftly switching between characters, sans any drag or drift. It’s also the typecast Bollywood action flick with a female lead throwing the verbal and physical punches for a change. Somehow Muragadoss’s idea of making this subtle change has worked well, showing us a difference that could be described as something like finding out your handwriting with the left hand is better than the right hand’s!
 

What doesn’t work?
The characterization frequently crosses the superlative boundary, strikingly skipping out of realism. Also, one might feel that here and there the plot could have been explained better because you would have unnecessary question marks hanging about which you’d eventually skip. The plot is also typical and almost a repetition of the same old.
 

What works?
Sonakshi Sinha turning So-in-action Sinha! She is menacing and  mesmerizing at the same time, making you want to thank the director for his casting call. It takes a director like Murugadoss to design sequences for a female lead that are masculine but staying within the boundaries of the feminine. The movie engages neatly, putting you slightly to edge during the course of its run time.
 

Well?
Akira is a typical script which we’ve seen with six packs and shirtless heroes play before but, with an interesting change in concept and a fast-paced, satisfyingly engaging screenplay that makes up for it.