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Trade analysts believe it’s not time to write off the genre because of one bad film
Upala KBR (DNA; September 7, 2016)

For a female-oriented action flick fronted by Sonakshi Sinha, Akira made a somewhat respectable `15 crore in its opening weekend, but trade pundits are already writing it off as a flop. This comes into perspective when you take into account the fact that Sonam Kapoor’s Neerja made Rs 22 cr over in its first weekend, while Anushka Sharma’s NH10, at Rs 13.30 cr was 2015’s fifth-biggest opening grosser. The question here is, is it too early to write off Akira — or for that matter, female-centric films — because of its low opening figures? Here’s what the trade had to say...

‘Let’s not put a full-stop to any genre’: Taran Adarsh, Trade Analyst
“I don’t think it’s fair to write off female-centric films so soon because of Akira. Over the past years, Bollywood has seen its fair share of ups and downs. That holds true of every genre. One does well, we think they will all work and if one flops, we think all will. When Mohenjo Daro didn’t do well, people started saying no to more period films. Let’s not put a full stop to any genre. Yes, certain female-oriented films like Neerja, Kahani, English Vinglish and NH10 have done well and Akira may not have done as well as expected, but you can’t say that the genre of female-oriented films is over. A couple of hit films and it can bounce back. These are phases which come and go. It all depends on the power of content. If the content matches the expectations of the audiences, there’s no stopping the film, regardless of the actor, actress or director in it. There were a lot of mixed reactions to Akira. People missed the entertainment quotient and music in the film.”

‘Akira was more adventurous than you think’: Amod Mehra, Trade Analyst
“While the producers are claiming it has done over Rs 15 cr business, the actuals are much lesser and the film has been declared a flop. Sonakshi is a misfit in the film. The role doesn’t suit her at all and she couldn’t carry the film on her shoulders. Just because you are Shatrughan Sinha’s daughter doesn’t mean you can do great action. What also didn’t work was the budget. A Sonakshi Sinha film should not be more than Rs 7-8 crore. Instead, the film was budgeted at Rs 25-26 crore. If it’s a good film, it will run — be it a male-oriented or female-oriented one, or an action film. In Akira, they were more adventurous than you think. It’s remade from a Tamil and Telugu film, where they had a male protagonist. For Akira, they changed it to a female one. Sonakshi doesn’t have an action image and it made film a sad affair. Also, people weren’t even aware that Akira was releasing now."

‘Akira doesn’t have a USP’: Akshaye Rathi, Exhibitor/Distributor
“It’s true that compared to the expectations Akira has underperformed. There are no two ways about this. I must add that this wasn’t been perceived as much as a Sonakshi Sinha as an A R Murugadoss film. Every film has one USP to pull the audience into cinemas. That made them great films. Akira didn’t have that. Neither was there an A-lister superstar in it. It’s not about male or female-oriented cinema, but about entertainment and the subject. It’s the quality of content that matters. The film has to have novelty value. Akira won’t be a total washout, but I personally believe that since it didn’t have an A-lister to draw in audiences, the music should have been phenomenal. It had action, but not that level as you see in an Ajay Devgn or Salman Khan film. It doesn’t have anything new to offer, nor does it have a great storyline or great drama or edge-of-the-seat moments.”