Subhash K Jha (DNA; March 26, 2015)

For the first time, Shatrughan Sinha will play real-life daughter Sonakshi’s father on screen in A R Murugadoss’ Akira. But surprisingly, they won’t share a single frame together in the film.

Says a well-informed source, “When Murugadoss approached Shotgun, the actor was told he played the film’s lifeline. Shatru plays Sonakshi’s father in Akira. But his character dies while Sonakshi’s character is a still a child. So all of his scenes are with the child actor playing Sona’s childhood avatar. Later on, his voice serves as a guiding force in Sona’s life. But they never come together face-to-face.”

This, according to sources, feels Shatrughan, won’t go down well with the audience. “Shatru feels there should be at least one sequence featuring Sonakshi and him together. Efforts are on to write such a scene into the script,” says the source.

Contrary to rumours, Akira is not a remake of a Telugu hit. This is Murugadoss’ first original script in Hindi. Both his earlier Hindi films, Ghajini and Holiday were remakes of Telugu blockbusters.