AR Murugadoss’ upcoming blockbuster, AKIRA is a remake of a Tamil movie, ‘Mouna Guru’ (silent teacher). There’s also the interesting tidbit about the name and its Japanese connection. We’ll get to both of these in a second.
First off, I deem it an immediate duty to officially state the following:
Sonakshi Sinha was born to be an action hero. She does naturally and with style, what Aamir did after building a six pack.
Sure, she could work on her stance while doing the Karate defence blocks, but I’m just nitpicking. And digressing.
The Silent Teacher and the Sleeper Hit
Mouna Guru (‘silent teacher’) was a 2011 thriller, with M Karunanidhi (ex-chief minister of Tamil Nadu)’s grandson, Arulnithi in the lead role. Sonakshi Sinha plays Arulnithi’s character in the ‘remake’.
Some of the scenes have been reproduced almost as is in the new movie.
Like the pot-breaking-head-breaking-pot scene. And the sitting-on-the-road bit.
Check it out.
Yes. I know.
This trailer reveals nothing, nor does it really help in giving the movie any context. It is just random visuals with music overlay.
And yet, the movie went on to become a sleeper hit.
It wasn’t heavily publicised (on purpose). All of the characters in the film looked adequately sweaty and with sufficiently oily faces, courtesy the summer heat. The movie screamed ‘small-indie-different-unpredictable’ through and through. And it delivered.
Arulnithi’s humongous family background notwithstanding, he was perfect for the role, and his performance was boosted by the supporting cast.
Although, I don’t think the original could do better than Anurag Kashyap! Whatte Idea!
A Fargo(ne) Connection
Here’s a little tidbid, Uma Riyaz Khan plays Konkona Sen’s police officer role in the Tamil original. In the movie, Uma channels Fargo’s Marge Gunderson, played by Frances McDormand, into her Palaniammal character. Both are in the third trimester of pregnancy.
You will find similarities in the facial features as well!
The Manga in the Name
The name, ‘AKIRA’ roughly means ‘Graceful Strength’ and is a beautiful, but not so common Indian female name.
In Japanese, though, it means ‘bright’, ‘clear’ or ‘intelligent’.
Yup, AKIRA is a boy’s name in the land of the rising sun, and a very common one at that.
Incidentally, AKIRA is also the name of what is probably the most ambitious and game changing Manga comic till date.
This might not mean much to you if you’re not into graphic novels, or comic books or Manga (a particular style of comic book art and storytelling that originated in Japan).
Nevertheless, consider this:
The books were serealised in the early 80’s. In 1988, they were adapted into an animated movie. For the first time, the movement of the character’s lips were animated to match the dialogues of the characters, giving it a hyper real feel. You can see every window, clearly, even in the tallest skyscrapers.
Back to Desi AKIRA
The explosions in Sonakshi’s AKIRA may not match up to the city-flattening subatomic climax of the animated movie. BUT, With AR Murugadoss at the helm, AKIRA’s publicity and the tone of the movie itself, is going to be anything but subtle.
Nevertheless, if it sticks to the original’s grittiness and no-nonsense approach to telling the story, it won’t go amiss.
OH! And did I mention, Anurag Kashyap plays the bad guy!!!
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