At a time when audiences are embracing pan-Indian films rooted in red soil, it feels strange that there is still a need for mounting a Sarfira . A remake of Suriya’s popular Tamil film Soorarai Pottru , Sarfira suffers because it loses some of its soul in transporting its take-off point from Madurai to a more generic Maharashtra. This is a common snag that appears when Akshay Kumar drives retrofitted big-budget vehicles sourced from the Deccan, for perhaps the star is focussing more on volume than the quality of the ride these days.
Old timers would remember how Jeetendra revived his career out of remakes in the 1980s. With Akshay, the generational loss is getting increasingly magnified because the originals are easily available for comparison, not just for critics but for common audiences as well. Soorarai Pottru was directly released on an OTT platform during the pandemic and is available with English subtitles and a Hindi dubbed version called Udaan.
The market has its shenanigans. The makers know that the story of Captain (Retd) G.R.
Gopinath, who made low-cost aviation in India a reality with the launch of frill-free Air Deccan in 2003, will have a pan-India resonance but don’t seem to have faith in the box-office accepting a South Indian star or an actor who would make an effort to be true to the regional essence of the character. Recently, Rajkummar Rao showed it with Shrikanth Bolla , but the subject or perhaps the market demanded a star here. What saves Sarfira f.
