Sonakshi Sinha's "Akira" is being released at a time when all that leading ladies are playing on screen are soft, dainty damsels. In this AR Murugadoss-directed venture, she kills it with her powerful punches and kicks.
However, that alone may not be enough for the film to stay afloat at the box office. Sure, it has a few non-threatening (in terms of business) films getting released alongside, among which Jackie Chan's "Skiptrace" will definitely give "Akira" stiff competition.
Jackie is someone who has set trends through his films and inspired millions to take up martial arts, which is why "Skiptrace" will score over "Akira" when it comes to action lovers. Also, the film has been dubbed in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, which means it will take up chunks of the domestic circuits. Another reason why "Akira" may go unnoticed is because the buzz around it is fairly low.
"There was very low buzz for Akira in the first place. This is surprising, considering director Murugadoss' two Hindi films so far 'Ghajini' and 'Holiday' were big hits," a source told Bollywood Hungama. "Traditionally, Bollywood films about female action stars died a quiet death after the stunt actress Fearless Nadia who ruled the box-office in the 1930s. Also, Sonakshi lacks the star power to carry a film on her shoulders. Perhaps Akira could have had more face value with Deepika Padukone or Priyanka Chopra in the lead."
Meanwhile, film critic Raja Sen calls Murugadoss' previous Hindi films sloppy South remakes while strongly hoping that it doesn't do the same to "Akira."
Interestingly, "Akira" has been made on a budget of Rs. 30 crore and the makers have already recovered a little over half of its production cost – Rs. 15.5 crore – through its satellite and music rights deals.
