Movie review: Akira moves only in fits and starts

Director: A.R. Murugadoss Cast: Sonakshi Sinha, Anurag Kashyap, Konkona SenSharma, Amid Sadh Nandu Madhav Saibal Chatterjee Director A R Murugadoss pulls out the stops forSonakshi Sinha. The actress, on her part, goes the whole hogas an action star. But Akira falters frequently because the film’sscreenplay lacks the punch that could elevate the crime dramato the level of a genuine boundary pusher. Akira does break a major stereotype by placing a womanat the centre of the action, which revolves around fourpolicemen who are desperate to cover their tracks aftercommitting a heinous crime, but it adds nothing more to thatwelcome narrative twist. Director-turned-actor Anurag Kashyap plays theprincipal antagonist – an assistant commissioner of police whois worse than a mafia don – with an impressive degree offlair. Operating unhindered, the ACP and three of hiscolleagues cross all limits of propriety: they kill a caraccident victim when they find a stash of cash in the boot ofthe mangled sedan. A college student Akira Sharma (Sonakshi Sinha), aJodhpur girl new to Mumbai, gets drawn into the vortex of thecase as a chain of events triggered by a surreptitiously shotvideo and the thefts of a kleptomaniac literally ends at thedoor of her hostel room. That marks the beginning of a cat-and-mouse gamebetween Akira and the four rogue cops who will do anything toavoid detection. But the female protagonist of Akira is no damsel indistress. Adept at martial arts and no mean fighter, sheoverpowers men double her size without breaking a sweat. The stage is thus set for a violent confrontationbetween Akira and the policemen and the audience naturallyexpects scenes of explosive action. But that does not quite happen despite several actionsequences. The film takes a detour through a mental asylumwhere the girl ends up, a victim of the machinations of apsychiatrist and the marauding policemen. Apart from the two principal characters who face offagainst each other, the film has an upright, heavily pregnantpolicewoman (Konkona Sen Sharma), who takes it upon herself toget to the bottom of the case. For Sonakshi Sinha, Akira is a significant point ofdeparture. Her career has thus far hung by the coattails ofthe likes of Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn. This film had the potential to catapult her into anall new league. But given the rather low-intensity drama thatmoves only in fits and starts, Akira seems unlikely to set thebox office on fire and give Sonakshi’s leaner and meanerscreen persona a longish lease of life. And that’s a pity. PTICORR BKKK